Fresno State Athletics
Baseball Team Arrives In Stanford
5/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 25, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. - Fresno State (40-19) arrived in Stanford on Thursday in preparation for this weekend's NCAA regional tournament. The Bulldogs met with the media for 15 minutes and then conducted a one-hour practice at Sunken Diamond. The 'Dogs begin NCAA Tournament play for the first time since 1997 on Friday when they play top seed Stanford (42-13) at 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs are making their 27th regional appearance in school history and the 20th in head coach Bob Bennett's 32 seasons at Fresno State. The 'Dogs are 50-56 (.472) all-time in NCAA championship play.
Fresno State is scheduled to start Shawn Hannah (Sr., Clovis, Calif.) against the Cardinal. Hannah will bring a 7-3 record and 3.44 ERA into the game. The 6-foot-3 right-hander has lost only one starting assignment since Jan. 29 and the Bulldogs are 12-4 when he starts this season. Hannah leads the pitching staff in innings pitched (102.0), complete games (3) and quality starts (9). He also is tied for the team lead with one shutout.
Stanford, which wrapped up its fourth consecutive Pacific-10 title last weekend, is slated to start Jason Young. The preseason All-America selection has not disappointed this season, posting a perfect 7-0 record and 3.78 ERA. Young, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, also has struck out 93 hitters in 88.0 innings of work.
The Cardinal swept a two-game series against the 'Dogs by scores of 10-2 and 7-1 to start the 2000 campaign. Stanford leads the all-time series that dates back to the 1952 season, 62-43. In fact, the Cardinal has won eight of the past 10 meetings in the series. The two in-state rivals have met eight times in the postseason, with Stanford holding a 5-3 edge in those matchups.
This year marks the fifth consecutive season Sunken Diamond has hosted a NCAA regional. Stanford has hosted nine regionals overall. No. 2 seed Alabama will play third-seeded Nevada in the regional's first game, which is scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m.
