April 25, 1999
BERKELEY, Calif - Stanford, led by outstanding pitching from freshman right-hander Brian Sager and an eight-run eighth inning, defeated host California, 13-5, Sunday at Evans Diamond. Cal, which defeated the Cardinal, 11-9 Friday and lost to Stanford, 14-11 in 10 innings Saturday, goes to 21-28 overall and 7-11 in the Pac-10, while Stanford improves to 29-12, 14-4 in league.
The Cardinal won the rubber match between the Bay Area rivals with Sager pitching an impressive 8.0 innings with four hits, one run, four walks and four strikeouts. He gave up his lone run in the fourth inning when he walked Cal's Rob Meyer with the bases loaded. The Bears ended up scoring four runs in the ninth inning behind four Stanford errors and a three-run homer by junior center fielder Curtis Johnson.
The Cardinal, meanwhile, held a 5-1 lead until the eighth inning and then exploded for eight runs in the eighth inning against Cal relievers Brad Steele and Kevin Johnson. Highlights for Stanford in the eighth was a three-run homer by Joe Savig, an RBI double by Eric Bruntlett, a two-run double by Joe Borchard and an RBI single by Damien Alvarado.
For the game, leading hitters for the Cardinal were Borchard (3-for-4, double, four RBI), Savig (1-for-4, three-run homer) and Jeff Rizzon (1-for-3, double, three RBI). The losing pitcher for Cal was sophomore starter Ryan Atkinson (3-7), who went 4.7 innings with five hits, four earned runs, two walks and a strikeout. Johnson was the Bears top hitter, going 3-for-4 with a double and his three-run homer.
Home Runs:
Stanford: Savig, three-run homer in the eighth.
Cal: C. Johnson, three-run homer in the ninth.