U N I V E R S I T Y O F W A S H I N G T O N HUSKY BASEBALL Phone: (206) 685-7910 Fax: (206) 543-5000 Web Site – www.gohuskies.com THIS WEEK . March 1, 2005 Contact: Jeff Bechthold ([email protected]) Wednesday, March 2 Huskies Open Home Season With St. Martin’s at Washington Husky Ballpark, 6:30 p.m. Seven Games Over Nine Days Friday, March 4 THIS WEEKEND: The Washington baseball team (4-7) finally returns home after 11 rain-soaked road games to UC Santa Barbara at Washington open the 2005 season. The Huskies, who went 2-3 last weekend at the Aggie Baseball Classic at Texas A&M, will play Husky Ballpark, 6:30 p.m. seven home games over nine days before getting a week off entirely. St. Martin’s (4-7) comes to Husky Ballpark Wednes- day night for a 6:30 p.m. home opener. Friday through Sunday, UC Santa Barbara comes to Seattle for a three-game Saturday, March 5 series. Next week, the UW hosts Portland on Tuesday and Pacific on Wednesday and Thursday. After that, the UW will UC Santa Barbara at Washington have eight days off before facing Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo on the road March 18-20. Here’s this week’s schedule: Husky Ballpark, 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 2: Washington vs. St. Martin’s, Husky Ballpark, 6:30 p.m. – RHP Kyle Parker (1-2, 5.25) Sunday, March 6 Friday, March 4: Washington vs. UC Santa Barbara, Husky Ballpark, 6:30 p.m. – RHP Tim Lincecum (1-2, 4.58) UC Santa Barbara at Washington Saturday, March 5: Washington vs. UC Santa Barbara, Husky Ballpark, 1:00 p.m. – RHP Matt Kasser (1-2, 3.50) Husky Ballpark, 1:00 p.m. Sunday, March 6: Washington vs. UC Santa Barbara, Husky Ballpark, 1:00 p.m. – RHP Kyle Parker (1-2, 5.25) audio for all games of homestand SERIES HISTORY: Washington has won all four of its meetings against St. Martin’s, winning one game each season between 1997 and 2000. The UW, however, hasn’t faced the Saints since 2000. Here are the scores of those four available at gohuskies.com games: 15-5 in 2000, 7-0 in 1999, 13-12 in 1998 and 18-6 in 1997. UC Santa Barbara holds a 7-3 all-time edge in the series against the Huskies. Most recently, the Huskies beat the Gauchos, 6-5, in a tournament at Pepperdine on the first COMING UP . weekend of the Dawgs’ 2003 season. In 1998, in a game played at a tournament at San Diego State, Washington beat UCSB, 17-9. The only other UW-UCSB game during Ken Knutson’s tenure was an 11-3 Husky loss at UCSB in 1995. Tuesday, March 8 Portland at Washington COACH “K”: Last season, Husky baseball coach Ken Knutson became the winningest baseball coach in the Husky Ballpark, 6:30 p.m. history of the program. That accomplishment is just one item on Knutson’s impressive resume. In his 12 seasons at the helm of his alma mater’s baseball team, Knutson has led the Dawgs to two Pac-10 championships, four Pac-10 Northern Wed.-Thu., March 9-10 Division titles, two other second-place finishes and six NCAA Regionals. His career overall record now stands at 432- Pacific at Washington 280-2 (.606). Before becoming the Husky head man in 1993, Knutson served as the Husky pitching coach for eight 6:30 p.m. Wed.; 3:00 p.m. Thu. seasons. In 1985, his UW pitching staff led the nation with a 2.80 ERA. Knutson holds a 210-90-2 (.699) record in home games. He is 182-124 (.595) in Pac-10 games. Knutson has coached 44 first-team All-Pac-10 selections in 12 seasons, and has been named league coach of the year three times. A 1981 All-Pac-10 left-handed pitcher at the UW, he is joined QUICK PITCHES . by assistants Joe Ross, Donny Harrel, and Gregg Swenson and undergrad assistant Ty Kuehl. • After 11 straight road games to open PROBABLE STARTERS: Here’s a look at the probable starters at each position, with stats and notes: the season, the Huskies play their next Pos. Player, Year Avg.-HR-RBI Notes seven at home over the course of only C – Matt Lane, So. .148-0-3 Has started 8 of 11 at C; opponents are 6-9 stealing against nine days. Joey Dunn, Fr. .250-0-1 Has started three games at C; 2-for-8 at the plate so far • Wednesday’s game vs. St. Martin’s 1B – Kyle Larsen, Sr. .265-0-2 Now in fourth season as Huskies’ starter at first base will be the UW’s first on their new 2B – Mike Rundle, Sr. .074-0-1 Transfer from Gonzaga took over for 3-year starter Isaacson FieldTurf field at Husky Ballpark. Andy Lentz, Fr. .077-0-0 Started last three at 2B and in the leadoff spot SS – Brent Lillibridge, Jr. .250-1-10 5-for-15, 5 RBI at A&M tourney; made all-tournament 3B – Nick Batkoski, Sr. .341-0-4 Started all 11 at 3B; leads UW with .341 avg., 14 hits OF – Zach Clem, Jr. .158-0-0 First-team All-Pac-10 in ‘04; started 6 of 11 so far in ‘05 OF – Taylor Johnson, Sr. .297-2-5 Started all 11 in RF; made first mound appearance last Fri. OF – Nick Burnham, Jr. .233-0-4 Has started 9 of 11 games; leads team with four steals OF – Cory Rickard, Jr. .100-0-0 Three starts in left and center field; 1-for-10 at the plate OF – Matt Stevens, So. .167-0-0 1-for-6 on the season; two starts in left field DH – Curt Rindal, So. .314-0-4 Has started 10 of 11 at DH; all-tournament at Texas A&M NEXT WEEK’S HUSKY BASEBALL PLANNER . Wed. 2 Thu. 3 Fri. 4 Sat. 5 Sun. 6 Mon. 7 Tue. 8 St. Martin’s UCSB UCSB UCSB Portland at Washington Practice at Washington at Washington at Washington at Washington Husky Ballpark Husky Ballpark Husky Ballpark Husky Ballpark Husky Ballpark off day Husky Ballpark FEBRUARY 6:30 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 6:30 p.m. University of Washington Athletics • Media Relations • 229 Graves Building • Box 354070 • Seattle, WA 98195-4070 NATIONAL RANKINGS WASHINGTON BASEBALL MARCH 1, 2005 Baseball America BROADCASTS ON THE WEB: All of Washington’s upcoming seven home games will air live on internet-only Top 25 (Feb. 28, 2005) audio broadcasts. For information on how to listen to the games, go to gohuskies.com, and click on the audio/video link. 1. Tulane 9-1 Also check gohuskies.com for any future web broadcasts. Additionally, 20 regular season games will air live on KKNW 2. Texas 15-0 1150-AM. Those broadcasts will also be available via the internet. The first scheduled radio broadcasts are the series at 3. Louisiana State 9-1 Arizona March 24-26. When additional games are added to the internet-only schedule, an announcement will be posted to 4. Cal State Fullerton 7-2 gohuskies.com. 5. South Carolina 9-0 6. North Carolina 8-0 SQUAD BREAKDOWN: Washington’s 36-man roster is pretty well balanced for a college baseball roster. The 7. Georgia 5-1 8. Florida 8-2 team includes six seniors, nine juniors, seven sophomores and 14 freshmen. Nineteen players are returners while 17 are 9. Miami, Fla. 10-3 new (14 of those 17 are true freshmen). Washington’s returning players have competed in a total of 857 UW baseball 10. Arizona ★ 11-3 games, and have combined for 2,168 career at bats and 572 and one-third career innings pitched in a Husky uniform. 11. Stanford ★ 9-6 12. Rice 10-2 TOUGH SCHEDULE: Counting those in the “others receiving votes” category, the preseason Sports Weekly/ 13. Vanderbilt 6-0 ESPN coaches’ poll ranked 66 teams this season. Washington, which tied with Pac-10 foe Arizona for the No. 12 spot in 14. Baylor 6-4 that poll, will play a total of 31 games against teams that received votes in the preseason ranking. Those 31 games come 15. Texas A&M ★ 7-4 against 11 different teams, including six conference opponents. The Huskies will play a total of 11 games against four 16. Mississippi 5-2 teams ranked in the top 12 in the preseason poll – three each against No. 6 Stanford, No. 9 Arizona State and No. 12 17. Georgia Tech 7-2 Arizona, plus two at No. 10 Texas A&M. Well-respected baseball website boydsworld.com ranks the Huskies’ schedule as 18. Florida State 15-1 the ninth-toughest in the nation. Also as regards the schedule, the Huskies will play 24 home games this season (plus an 19. Arkansas 9-1 exhibition vs. the University of British Columbia) and 32 on the road. Washington’s first 12 games will be on the road. 20. College of Charleston 7-1 21. Louisiana-Lafayette 10-0 NORTHWEST FLAVOR: As is usually the case, the Husky baseball roster is made up primarily of players from the 22. Texas Tech 11-1 state of Washington. This year, however, it’s nearly unanimous as 35 of the 36 players on the preseason roster are from the ★ 23.