February 6, 1999
FULLERTON, Calif. - Seventh-ranked Stanford (2-3) scored in four of its last five at-bats to post a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over No. 14 Cal State Fullerton (1-1) on Saturday night at Titan Field.
Fullerton led 3-1 after four innings, but the Cardinal offense came back with one in the fifth, two in the sixth and single runs in the seventh and eighth.
Stanford took a 4-3 lead with a pair of runs in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Damien Alvarado (Sacramento, CA/Jesuit HS) and a sacrifice fly by Jeff Rizzo (San Diego, CA/La Jolla HS). After the Titans tied it in the bottom of the sixth inning, senior Josh Hochgesang (Fullerton, CA/Sunny Hills HS) put the Cardinal back on top with his third homer in four games. The round-tripper was the 32nd of Hochgesang's career, and ties him with Jody Gerut (1996-98) for ninth on Stanford's all-time list. Hochgesang also finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI.
The Titans tied the game again in the bottom of the seventh, but Stanford pushed the eventual winning run across in the top of the eighth. Alavarado led off the inning with a walk, went to third on pinch-hitter Joe Savig's (Lodi, CA/St. Mary's HS) single to right and scored on Rizzo's RBI fielders choice.
The eighth-inning rally gave Stanford freshman right-hander Brian Sager (Branford, CT/Branford HS) his first collegiate victory. Senior Tony Cogan (Highland Park, IL/Highland Park HS) pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to earn his first save of '99. The save was also the eighth of Cogan's career to move him into a tie for eighth on the all-time school list with Nick Peterson (1972-73).
The Titans and Cardinal wrap up the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Titan Field.
Linescore
Stanford 100 012 110 --- 6 9 1 Cal State Fullerton 300 001 100 --- 5 8 4Wayne, Sager (7), Cogan (8) and Alvarado; DeJong, Smith (6), Westemeir (7), Hanlon (8) and Gates, Patterson (8). WP Sager (1-0). LP Westemeir (0-1). SV Cogan (1). 2B Muth (STAN). 3B Hochgesang (STAN). HR Hochgesang (STAN) 7th inning, none on. Records Stanford 2-3, Cal State Fullerton 1-1.