February 7, 1999
FULLERTON, Calif. - Junior catcher Damien Alvarado (Sacramento, CA/Jesuit HS) homered and drove in a career-high five runs to lead No. 7 Stanford (3-3) to a 13-7 victory over No. 14 Cal State Fullerton (1-2) on Sunday afternoon at Titan Field. Stanford took two of three in the weekend series, and now leads the all-time series 28-27.
After the Titans scored three in the bottom of the first, Stanford took the lead for good with a seven-run second. The seven runs is the Cardinal's highest total in an inning since it racked up eight in the third inning of a 13-4 home win over Arizona on March 6, 1997.
Alvarado had two hits in the second inning alone, including an RBI single. Freshman Jason VanMeetren (Las Vegas, NV/Bishop Gorman HS) had a two-RBI double in the rally, while junior John Gall (Portola Valley, CA/St. Francis HS) also had a run-scoring double.
The Titans cut the lead to 8-6 after 5.0 innings, but Alvarado broke it open with a three-run homer in the sixth. With two outs, Alvarado blasted a 2-2 pitch over the right-field fence to the give the Cardinal a five-run lead.
Stanford had a season-high 15 hits on the afternoon, and five Cardinal starters had two or more. Gall finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while junior Edmund Muth (Long Beach, CA/St. John Bosco HS), sophomore Joe Borchard (Camarillo, CA/Camarillo HS) and VanMeetren had two hits apiece. Sophomore left-hander Brad Drew (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada/Waterloo Collegiate Inst.) allowed four hits and one earned run over 3.0 innings to earn the win and improve to 1-1.
The Cardinal returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Saint Mary's (0-4) on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.
Linescore R H E Stanford 070 103 020 --- 13 15 6 Cal State Fullerton 301 110 100 --- 7 13 5
Gosling, Drew (4), Cogan (7) and Alvarado; Garner, Sorensen (2), Carralejo (6),
Saarloos (8) and Patterson. WP - Drew (1-1). LP - Garner (0-1). 2B - VanMeetren
(STAN), Muth (STAN), Gall (STAN), Beck (CSF), Moore (CSF), Perry (CSF). 3B -
Muth (STAN), Gall (STAN). HR - Alvarado (STAN) 6th inning, two on. Records -
Stanford 3-3, Cal State Fullerton 1-2.