May 22, 1999
STANFORD, Calif. - Senior Josh Hochgesang (Fullerton, CA/Sunny Hills) went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI in his final regular season collegiate home game as No. 4 Stanford (43-13) defeated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (21-34) 12-9 on Saturday afternoon at Sunken Diamond. The contest was the final regular season game for both teams. The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday at noon on ESPN. Stanford, which earned a bid by winning the Pac-10, will stay at home for the regionals and will open play on Friday, May 28 at 7 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 7-4 lead after 7.0 innings on two home runs and five RBI by ninth-place hitter Craig Ritter (Fountain Valley, CA/Orange Coast CC). Ritter had a three-run homer in the second, a solo shot in the fifth and an RBI double in the seventh to put the Mustangs on top.
But Stanford exploded for eight runs on eight hits in the eighth inning to win for the 16th time in the last 17 games. The Cardinal has won 14 games this season after it has trailed or been tied after five innings. Junior Eric Bruntlett's (North Lafayette, IN/Harrison HS) one-out single up the middle tied the game at 7-7, and junior John Gall (Portola Valley, CA/St. Francis HS) put the Cardinal ahead to stay with a two-RBI single to right. Hochgesang later added a two-run double to finish the afternoon just a triple shy of the cycle. The senior earlier blasted a two-run homer, and finished the regular season with 16 homers and 62 RBI.
Senior pitcher Tony Cogan (Highland Park, IL/Highland Park HS), also playing in his final regular season home game, picked up the win after throwing the final 2.1 innings out of the bullpen. Offensively for Stanford, sophomore Joe Borchard (Camarillo, CA/Camarillo HS) scored three times and junior Damien Alvarado (Sacramento, CA/Jesuit HS) and Bruntlett had two RBI apiece.
Cal Poly, which outhit Stanford 15-14, received four hits from freshman Chris Martinez (Simi Valley, CA/Chaminade HS) and the five RBI and three hits from Ritter. Mustang starter Jeremy Cunningham (Cupertino, CA/DeAnza JC) took the loss and fell to 3-9.
Linescore
Cal Poly SLO 030 010 212 --- 9 15 0 Stanford 000 211 08x --- 12 14 0
Cuningham, Shwam (8) and Riddle, Murphy (1) Sager, Coose (6), Cogan (7) and Alvarado, Kammeyer (9).
WP - Cogan (6-3). LP -Cunningham (3-9).
2B - Martinez (CPSLO), Ecklund (CPSLO), Brady (CPSLO), Ritter (CPSLO), Hochgesang (STAN), Alvarado (STAN), Bruntlett (STAN).
3B - Alvarado (STAN).
HR - Ritter (CPSLO) 2: 2nd inning, two on; 5th inning, none on; Hochgesang (STAN) 4th inning, one on.
Records - Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 21-34, Stanford 43-13.