April 1, 1999
STANFORD, Calif. - Sophomore Jason Young (Berkeley, CA/Berkeley HS) struck out 12 in 7.0 innings of work to lead third-ranked Stanford (21-8, 7-0 in the Pac-10) to an easy 9-3 Pac-10 win over visiting Washington State (16-10, 1-3) on Thursday night at Sunken Diamond.
The 7-0 conference start is the best in school history, surpassing the 6-0 mark established in 1985. The Cardinal attempts to go 8-0 on Friday at 7 p.m. when it hosts the Cougars in game two of the weekend series. Young improved to 6-1 on the season by allowing just five hits and two runs over 7.0 innings, while walking 4 and striking out 12. He has now struck out 87 batters in 70.0 innings this season, and has struck out 10 or more on four different occasions.
Stanford led 2-1 after two innings, but broke the game wide open with a four-run rally in the third. Sophomore Joe Borchard (Camarillo, CA/Camarillo HS) and juniors Damien Alvarado (Sacramento, CA/Jesuit HS) and Nick Day (Las Vegas, NV/Green Valley HS) highlighted the rally with back-to-back RBI singles. The Cardinal extended the lead to 9-2 in the sixth on a two-run home run by Borchard and an RBI single by junior John Gall (Portola Valley, CA/St. Francis HS).
Borchard paced the 16-hit attack by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI, while Alvarado added his fifth three-hit game of the season. Seniors Steve Gleason (Spokane, WA/Gonzaga Prep) and Jeff Scherer (Kennewick, WA/Kamiakin HS) each blasted solo home runs for the Cougars. Washington State starter Wade Parrish (Othello, WA/Othello HS) took the loss to fall to 4-3.
Linescore
Washington State 010 001 001 --- 3 6 2 Stanford 114 003 00x --- 9 16 0Parrish, Nakaishi (4), Thompson (7) and Scherer; Young, Willcox (8) and Alvarado. WP - Young (6-1). LP - Parrish (4-3). 2B - Scherer (WSU), Rizzo (STAN). 3B - Alvarado (STAN). HR - Scherer (WSU) 1st inning, none on; Borchard (STAN) 6th inning, one on; Gleason (WSU) 9th inning, none on. Records - Washington State 16-10 overall (1-3 in the Pac-10), Stanford 21-8 (7-0).