May 21, 2008

Cardinal blows 8-0 lead, loses 15-11 at Arizona

Stanford tennis standouts in NCAAs today

FROM DAILY NEWS DISPATCHES

The 16th-ranked Stanford baseball team blew an 8-0 lead and fell 15-11 in eight innings at Arizona on Monday afternoon.

The top three hitters in the Stanford order went a combined 9-for-12 with three walks.

The Cardinal got on the board first again when they exploded for five runs in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. Stanford pushed the lead to 8-0 in the third inning on Toby Gerhart's fourth home run of the year.

The Wildcats, who improved to 23-4 at home, roared back in the third for nine runs in the high altitude of Tucson.

The Cardinal tied the score in the fifth inning when Cord Phelps hit his 10th home run of the season and second in as many days.

Stanford regained the lead in the sixth inning when Randy Molina lined a single to right and came around on pinch hitter Joey August's double.

This made the score 10-9 through six complete innings at Frank Kindall Field.

Phelps started another scoring rally in the seventh inning with a single and moved to second on Gerhart's walk, the fourth time the sophomore outfielder reached base in the game.

The undoing was in the seventh inning, when the Wildcats scored six runs keyed by a grand slam by C.J. Ziegler, his 18th home run of the season.

A bright spot for Stanford: Jeremy Bleich, the team's opening-day starter this season, came in to pitch the final two outs in the eighth inning. He gave up one hit and struck out one.

Stanford begins a three-game series Friday at Washington.



Men's tennis

Freshman Alex Clayton received the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Championship and will face Radford's Martin Sayer at 10 a.m. today at the University of Tulsa. Clayton is ranked seventh in the nation; Sayer is No. 103.

Clayton is the only men's representative from Stanford in the singles draw this year. He will try to become Stanford's 14th singles champion and first since Alex Kim in 2000. Stanford has racked up 13 NCAA singles titles in all, second only to Harvard, which owns 16.

Clayton, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native has gone 26-8 overall and 17-6 in dual matches this season and was named the ITA West Region Rookie of the Year. He is 15-7 against nationally ranked opponents.



Women's rowing

The varsity eight boat of the No. 6 Stanford women's rowing team, fresh off a silver medal at last weekend's Pac-10 Championships, earned its second consecutive at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, the NCAA announced Tuesday. The championships will be held May 30-June 1 at Sacramento State Aquatic Center in Gold River and hosted by Cal.

Stanford's varsity eight received one of four at-large bids. In all, 12 teams were selected to participate in the championships alongside the four at-large boats.

"The varsity eight is fired up to row their hearts out at the NCAA Championships, especially for their teammates," Stanford coach Yasmin Farooq said. "We peaked for the Pac-10 Championships and are proud and excited for our varsity eight to have the opportunity to race at the NCAA Championships."



Women's tennis

Freshman Hilary Barte added yet another honor Tuesday as she was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Rookie of the Year, the first Cardinal player to capture the honor since Amber Liu in 2003.

Barte is a team-best 29-7 on the year and 22-4 in dual-match play. Prior to suffering a loss in Stanford's NCAA quarterfinal loss to Baylor last weekend, Barte had been unbeaten at the No. 1 position in 19 matches and had won 21 of her past 22 contests overall dating to Feb. 22.

Barte, who is from Chatsworth, is a 5-5 lefty with powerful groundstrokes and an impressive serve. She owns a 20-5 record against nationally ranked opponents and is 16-2 versus Pac-10 foes.

Barte is bidding to become the first freshman in school history to win 30 overall matches and 20 duals since 2004, when Theresa Logar posted a 38-4 overall mark and was 27-0 in dual-match action.

Barte, junior Jessica Nguyen and sophomore Lindsay Burdette will represent fourth-ranked Stanford at the NCAA Championships.

Barte and Nguyen earned spots in the singles draw, which begins today. Barte faces UNLV's Elena Gantcheva, ranked No. 36 nationally, in an 8 a.m. match. Nguyen will battle Miami's Laura Vallverdu, ranked No.19 nationally, in a 9:30 a.m. contest.

Barte is the tournament's No. 3 seed. Nguyen, ranked No. 13 in the nation, was tabbed one of eight No. 9-16 seeds in the draw. Nguyen is 28-9 overall and 17-5 in dual-match play, competing primarily at the No. 2 spot in the lineup.

Nguyen has been perhaps the Cardinal's hottest player down the stretch, owning a seven-match winning streak. She is 12-8 against nationally ranked opponents and 14-5 versus Pac-10 foes. Nguyen is a team-best 8-3 in three-set matches and sports a 7-5 mark on neutral courts.

In doubles, Stanford's top team of Barte and Burdette earned an at-large invite to the field. Barte and Burdette will oppose William and Mary's Megan Moulton-Levy and Katarina Zoricic when doubles play begins Thursday. Moulton-Levy and Zoricic posted an 8-3 win when the two squads hooked up in a dual match March 4 at Stanford.

Ranked No. 9 in the country, Barte and Burdette are 17-11 overall, with all of those matches played at the No. 1 spot. The duo has won six of its past eight matches overall. Barte and Burdette own a 5-8 mark against nationally ranked opponents and are 8-6 versus Pac-10 foes.