This wasn’t the news I wanted to hear today, unfortunately, but it seems that former Stanford player and Mets farmhand Sean Ratliff has retired from baseball after his struggles to recover from his facial injuries last season.

Ratliff has one semester left at Stanford, and after that he’s got his whole life in front of him. He’ll be armed with a wonderful degree, so he’ll definitely be able to conquer the world, but it’s always really depressing when a player’s Major League dreams are cut short.

Godspeed, Sean. We still believe in you and we’re very, very proud.

The last time I was in Binghamton for a game, which was about a year ago, I bought a game-used Sean Ratliff bat. I am now even more glad that I was impulsive and did.

I'm going to treasure this forever.

Members of the Cardinal team celebrate Austin Wilson's walkoff home run. (Photo: Mac)

The weather cooperated with baseball for once this weekend in the Bay Area.

Saturday’s game against the University of Southern California Trojans was rained out and a doubleheader was scheduled for Sunday, Mar 25.

The series marks No. 3 Stanford’s first meeting with a Pac-12 team this season.

» Continue reading “Stanford Sweeps Double Header Against USC”

As @CAA_Baseball tweeted this morning, Jed Lowrie has launched a photography website: www.jl4photography.com.

If you’re thinking, “Jed Lowrie, the same guy that Nine Shot First senior reporter Steph loves so much?” then you are correct!

(And yes, I know it’s a change to see me, Mac, writing about Jed. Insert .gif of the Stanford Tree with a pair of sunglasses falling down to its eyes saying, “Deal with it.”)

The about page of his website seems to really reflect his personality:

Hello, my name is Jed Lowrie. Growing up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, I gained a keen appreciation for nature. I was fortunate enough to attend Stanford University, where I majored in political science. Although I did not major in photojournalism, the most enjoyable elective courses I took were photography. I currently play Major League Baseball, but always find time for my photography when possible. I am a passionate photographer and traveler who enjoys capturing images of the world around me. I want to share them with you. Enjoy.

In an awkwardly dorky way, Jed manages to be articulate and still have that Stanford charm.

And as someone who has studied (or attempted to, at least) photography, Jed has a really great eye for things. Maybe there will be great ballpark and game shots soon? Who knows. It’s certainly something to watch out for, I’m sure.

Austin Wilson after his fourth inning three-run home run. (Photo: Mac)

No. 2 Stanford hosted the Rice Owls on Mar 10 at Sunken Diamond.

Iron Chef Brett Mooneyham took the mound for his 4th start of the season, opposing righty Austin Kubitza.

» Continue reading “Mooneyham, Offense Cook Rice”

A.J. Vanegas pitches against the St. Mary's College Gaels. (Photo: Mac)

Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinal team ventured to Moraga, Calif. to face the Gaels at St. Mary’s College of California.

RHP A.J. Vanegas pitched five strong innings, giving up only three hits and allowing no runs.

The Card offense proved, once again, that they can get things done.

» Continue reading “Stanford Shuts Out St. Mary’s”

Well. Look at that box score. Stanford beats Texas 15-1, bringing the season record to 7-0.

The nerds have clearly been bringing the best game they can to the field since opening day and it’s showing.

Freshman pitcher John Hochstatter went 6 1/3 innings in the Sunday matinee, giving up only one run. He walked three and struck out four.

Though Texas had tied the game in the top of the 4th inning, the Card had no problem rallying.

The scored 13 runs in the bottom of the 4th.

You read that right folks, 13 runs.

Junior third baseman Stephen Piscotty had a big day at the plate, going 2 for 5, walking once, and driving in 4. As did sophomore shortstop Lonnie Kauppila, who went 2 for 4 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and a triple.

In other words, the Stanford offense did this:

And it is a very, very fun thing to see this season.

Iron Chef Brett Mooneyham clearly has not let his kitchen mishap affect his pitching skills.

Clearly in control of the game, Mooneyham went the distance and pitched eight strong innings, giving up only one run.

» Continue reading “The Streak Keeps Going: Stanford Defeats Texas Again”

Getting the obvious out of the way: Mark Appel had a pretty line last night.

Even better? He was throwing a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

In short: Appel be beastin’.

Also, offense is good. This offense should stay like this. Scoring runs is good.

The only negative things I can say about this game are that AJ Vanegas struggled early (he gave up 4 runs in the 2nd) and Tyler Gaffney’s 25-game hit streak ended.

Here, have a box score:

Screencapped from CBSSports.com GameTracker.

Photo by Camille Debreczeny of the Danville Patch.

Looks nice, right? I mean…there were innings where Stanford scored  8 runs and 7 runs respectively. That’s kind of a lot, y’know. I can attribute part of it – especially in the 2nd inning, where the team scored 8 – to Vanderbilt’s defense falling apart, but a lot of it is just the sheer power of this team’s offense. Stephen Piscotty had a grand slam in the 6th, the inning in which the team tacked on 7 more runs.

The unsung hero of this game is freshman hurler John Hochstatter. Coming on in relief of Vanegas, Hochstatter went 6.1 incredible innings, holding Vanderbilt scoreless until he was removed from the game and Sam Lindquist pitched the 9th. He only struck out two batters, but he also only walked two – and that’s out of 23 faced. This man is the model of consistency. We’re lucky to have him, I think.

A few other notes from the offensive side, by the way:

• Piscotty had 7 RBI today. Seven. That’s kind of a lot, you know – and yet in this game, Piscotty’s output was only equal to the team’s output in one of its two huge innings.
• Christian Griffiths, rebounding from an injury that kept him on the sidelines for all of 2011, had 4 RBI of his own, which is a great sign. We’re happy to have you back, Christian!

In short, the best way to sum up this team’s offense is with a quote, I think. As a wise man once said, “Pretty. What do we blow up first?”

See this cartoon here to the right? Remember how I drew it last year because Iron Chef Mooneyham had a kitchen mishap and was out for the year?

Now it’s irrelevant because Mooney is back and better than ever.

He’s technically a red shirt junior now even though he’s in his senior year of college due to his injury last season, but we’re not going to hold that sort of thing against him. He’s good at baseball, and that’s what matters.

He may or may not also be working on a senior thesis, and as a fellow history major I know how much time those consume, so be especially nice to him, okay? He may be under pressure right now if he didn’t do his thesis last semester.

If he is under pressure, though, he didn’t show it during the six innings he pitched today. He gave up three runs – two on a homer in the sixth, his last inning – and struck out eight. It was a return to his former glory.

We missed you, Mooney. You’re the best history major in the world besides me.

Here, check out this box score via CBSSports.com GameTracker (which I prefer vastly to having a Baseball Boyfriend, although if I had one I’d pick Mooney since we have things in common). Look at how dominant Stanford is. It’s insane.

This is a screencap. I took it. If you click on it, it will enlarge and become more legible.

Yeah. We’re good at baseball this year. Utter domination.

Here’s that Battle of Yavin .gif again, since I know it’s more likely than not that people reading this site know what the Battle of Yavin actually was: