News Release Date:
Saturday, April 30, 2011
 |
| Patrick Stauffer |
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Whitman College seniors Jay Richards, Erik Korsmo and Patrick Stauffer will play their final games this weekend as the Missionaries close out their 2011 spring season with a three-game series against Whitworth at Borleske Stadium.
All three will be honored prior to the start of Sunday's series finale, a single game that gets underway at noon.
 |
| Erik Korsmo |
Erik Korsmo, serving his second year as a team captain, is hitting .305 this season and leads the team with four home runs, 22 RBI and a .441 slugging percentage.
A four-year starter, Korsmo has been a versatile contributor, taking turns on the mound and at catcher, in addition to playing in the outfield and serving as a designated hitter.
He earned All-Northwest Conference Honorable Mention recognition to cap his junior and sophomore seasons.
He led Whitman in hitting both seasons, hitting .353 a year ago after posting a .360 batting average as a sophomore.
His sophomore season included a four-game series against Willamette in which he clubbed a home run, triple and double while going nine for 14 at the plate. He also reached five times in that series by drawing walks or getting hit with pitches.
As a junior, Korsmo rapped eight hits in 10 at-bats in the first two games of the season. Later that spring, he earned saves in both games of a doubleheader sweep of Lewis & Clark, and he sparked a victory over Menlo with four hits, one of which was a home run.
This season, Korsmo had three hits and drew a bases-loaded walk in a 7-3 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and his two-run single capped a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Pacific Lutheran.
Korsmo counts that victory over PLU as his favorite Missionary memory. "The team came together so well and it was a phenomenal feeling beating a team that had given us so much trouble in the past," he says. "I feel like that was one of the best games we played all year."
Korsmo's career numbers include 145 hits, 73 runs scored, 60 RBI, 28 doubles, seven triples and nine home runs. He has also drawn 49 walks and been hit by pitches 29 times.
A graduate of Bellevue (Wash.) High School, Korsmo is completing a biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology at Whitman. His post-commencement plans include getting certified as a strength and conditioning specialist and helping coach his high school team while applying for Ph.D. programs in microbiology.
 |
| Jay Richards |
Jay Richards, also a senior captain, leads Whitman in hitting this season with team-high numbers in total hits (42), runs scored (21) and batting average (.339). He also tops the team with a .424 on-base percentage and five sacrifice bunts.
Richards has played this spring at second base, after spending the bulk of the two previous seasons at shortstop. He also started 15 games as a freshman, when he played primarily at first base.
A year ago as a junior, Richards hit an even .300, although he saved his best for the conference season, hitting a team-best .341 in 24 NWC games.
In Whitman's doubleheader sweep of Lewis & Clark earlier this season, Richards stroked six hits in nine at-bats (plus two walks) while scoring five runs and knocking in two more.
He also played error-free defense at second base that weekend and a few days later was named NWC Student-Athlete of the Week for baseball.
His junior season highlights included a two-run homer and RBI-triple against Cal Lutheran.
Later that same season, as part of a four-hit game against Willamette, Richards doubled and scored the winning run as Whitman scored four times in the bottom of the ninth for a 10-9 victory.
As a sophomore, Richards walloped his first college home run, a two-run clout to center, that lifted Whitman to a 15-13 victory over Occidental.
Playing shortstop that season, Richards also had a hand in two of three double plays Whitman's infield turned in a single game against George Fox.
Career numbers for Richards include 126 hits, 69 runs scored, 50 RBI, 24 doubles, three triples and two home runs. He also has drawn 61 walks and collected 19 sacrifice bunts and flies.
A graduate of Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Wash., Richards is finishing a politics major at Whitman and writing his honors thesis on "The United States Militia Movement: Ideological Fervor and Extremism in America."
Richards, who is in the process of getting his real estate license, plans to pursue a master's degree in business within the next few years and eventually wants to run his own business enterprise.
 |
| Stauffer: Baseball weather NOT always balmy |
Patrick Stauffer, who has played the last three years at Whitman, has one year of athletic eligibility remaining.
He graduates in May, however, and plans to return home to the Portland, Ore., area this summer to start applying for medical school.
A two-year starter in the infield, Stauffer made an immediate impact at the start of his first season (2009).
One of his fondest Whitmam memories, in fact, was stroking five hits and drawing a walk in his second game in a Missionary uniform as part of a wild 15-13 12-inning victory over Occidental. Hitting lead-off, Stauffer singled and doubled as part of a nine-run first inning.
After Occidental rallied to tie the game at 13-13 and force extra innings, Stauffer ripped a one-out double in the 12th inning and scored the winning run when teammate Jay Richards homered to center.
Stauffer made notable contributions with his bat and glove in a game that season against George Fox. He had two of Whitman's five hits and made the pivot on two of the three double plays turned by the Missionary infield.
In a doubleheader last season against Menlo, Stauffer singled home two runs and scored in a 15-7 game-one victory and then rapped an RBI-triple and scored in the nightcap.
Stauffer's career numbers in three Whitman seasons include 64 hits, 36 runs scored, 23 RBI, eight doubles and one triple. He also has 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
Stauffer attended Linfield College as a freshman, competing on the track & field team. He then transferred to Whitman as a sophomore to play baseball.
A graduate of Portland's Roosevelt High School, Stauffer is majoring in biology at Whitman.
- 30 -
CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu
