May 13, 2008

There's no place like home for Cardinal baseball

From Daily News Dispatches

No. 14 Stanford baseball closed out its regular season schedule at Klein Field in style, using a seven-run fifth inning to run away from the Santa Clara Broncos in their 15-4 victory. Brent Milleville, Sean Ratliff and Jason Castro all went deep and seven Cardinal starters recorded hits in the contest. Palo Alto High product and senior David Stringer (3-1, 4.79 ERA) came in relief to earn the victory and sophomore Alex Rivers took the loss after giving up seven earned runs in just a third of an inning.

The Cardinal (30-18-2) fell behind as they had done in all three contests against Cal over the weekend, but for the second day in a row Stanford was able to come back and use its strong offense to coast to the victory.

The win was Stanford's third this season against the Broncos in the four meetings this season.

Stanford's bullpen came up big in the victory by going 6 2/3 shutout innings in place of starter Max Fearnow. Stringer produced 2 2/3 innings of shutout baseball; freshman Danny Sandbrink recorded 3 1/3 of shutout; and senior Rex Petrill (St. Francis) recorded the final two outs in the 30th victory of the season.

The Cardinal will now hit the road for the final two weekends of the regular season. The road trip begins this Saturday when Stanford travels to Tucson for three games at Jerry Kindall Field where the Arizona Wildcats await.



Football

Stanford outside linebacker Clinton Snyder has been included on the watch list for the 2008 Bronko Nagurski Award, which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football. The award is sponsored by the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

Also included on the list is Ohio State senior linebacker James Laurinaitis, the 2006 Nagurski Trophy award winner and a 2007 finalist, and South Florida junior defensive end George Selvie, another 2007 finalist.

The Football Writers Association of America All-America Committee selects the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner from the association's 11-man All-America defensive team in November. The watch list was developed by the FWAA All-America committee with the help of schools and conferences.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been presented since 1993 and is awarded in memory of the legendary Nagurski, a former All-America lineman at Minnesota in 1927-29 who went on to star for the Chicago Bears in the 1930s.

Snyder, who earned second team All-Pac-10 Conference honors last season, ranks as Stanford's active career leader in tackles (179), sacks (10.0), fumbles forced (7) and is tied for first in fumbles recovered (3) and tackles for loss (18). He ranked among the Pac-10 leaders in virtually every defensive category in 2007.

Snyder is the latest Stanford player to be included on preseason watch lists for various prestigious awards. Bo McNally is included on the watch list for the Ronnie Lott Trophy, which honors the nation's top safety and Alex Fletcher is included on the Outland Trophy (top interior lineman) and Rimington Award (top center) watch lists.

Stanford opens the 2008 regular season on Aug. 28 against Oregon State at Stanford Stadium. For ticket information, go to gostanford.com or call 1-800-STANFORD.



Wrestling

Stanford wrestling coach Kerry McCoy has accepted the head coaching position at the University of Maryland.

McCoy carried the Stanford program to one of its best seasons in school history in 2007-08, capping his third season as head coach with a top-20 national finish and the Pac-10 runner-up spot. He posted a 29-19 record in three seasons at Stanford and helped Cardinal wrestlers to five All-America honors.

"The decision to leave Stanford was very hard for me," McCoy said. "I truly love Stanford and everything associated with the program and the University, the team, the parents, the alums, the administration, everything. The last three years of my life have been incredible.

"The decision to head back East was ultimately made because its going to be a better situation for my family," McCoy added. "I would like to thank Stanford for giving me the opportunity to lead the wrestling program. It was an amazing experience, and a very difficult place to leave. I also want to thank all of the alumni, fans, parents and administrators for the support the program received. I especially want to thank Bob Bowlsby and Earl Koberlein for providing me with the tools necessary to build a top-notch program. I am very happy with the direction the program is going and I expect great things in the future of the program."

McCoy made an immediate impact on the program from the moment he stepped onto the Farm in 2005, bringing more and more success in each of his three seasons. In 2007-08, he guided the program to a landmark season that included more duals wins than any season in the last three decades (13), the highest Pac-10 finish in school history, the second-highest national finish and a program-best five NCAA qualifiers. Stanford took 19th nationally, just its third all-time top-20 finish. For just the third time in program history and the second time in two years, Stanford produced two All-Americans in the same season. Owning two of the conference's four All-Americans, the Cardinal's 19th-place finish was the best in the Pac-10.

A nationwide search for a new coach will begin immediately.