Feb. 21, 2000
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Second-ranked Stanford held off a ninth inning rally to defeat Sacramento State, 4-2, in a non-conference game on Monday at Hornet Field. Stanford reliever Mike Gosling reached above his head to snag a hard hit ground ball by pinch hitter Mike Bender with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth to end the Hornets threat. Gosling earned his first collegiate save, striking out seven and allowing just one hit in 4.0 scoreless innings. John Gall had the key hit for the Stanford offense, a two-run single in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie and enough to give the Cardinal the lead for good. Gall was the only Cardinal with more than one hit, going 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and two RBI.
Gosling had retired the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth before Jesse Krebs reached first base on a wild pitch after striking out on a pitch in the dirt. Gosling then walked Jimmy McFarland and pinch-hitter Dave Lusk to load the bases before retiring Bender.
"I felt like I had a good fastball and was locating my pitches well," said Gosling in reference to his season-high seven strikeout performance. "I had both pitches (fastball and curve ball) going well and was able to use the breaking ball quite a bit because I was able to get ahead in the count on several occasions."
Cardinal starter Jason Luker (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory, scattering five hits and a pair of runs in 5.0 innings. Joey Robinson (0-2) took the loss despite holding the Cardinal to just five hits and three runs (two earned) over 7.2 innings.
"We had really good performances from both of our pitchers today," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess following the contest. "The difference today was the great pitching performances and solid defense. Even if you struggle a bit at the plate, you have a chance to win games if you pitch and play defense. Thats what happened with us today."
The Cardinal opened the scoring when Joe Borchard plated Gall with an RBI-single in the top of the second. The Hornets came right back with a single run in the bottom of the second. Jesse Krebs doubled after two were out and scored an unearned run when Luker overthrew first base on a ground ball by McFarland.
Galls two-run single in the third put Stanford back in front, 3-1, before a sacrifice fly by Krebbs in the bottom of the fourth cut the Stanford lead to 3-2.
The score would remain 3-2 until the top of the ninth when Stanford added an insurance run. Chris ORiordan led off the inning with a double and was bunted to third base by Billy Jacobson. After one-out walks to Damien Alvarado and Jason Cooper loaded the bases, Hornet reliever Ryan Brown retired Craig Thompson for the second out. However, Brown would then hit Eric Bruntlett to force in ORiordan, giving the Cardinal a 4-2 lead.
Casey Martinez (2-for-4) was the only Hornet with more than one hit.
The game featured six hit batsmen as each team was plucked three times. Five double plays were also recorded by the two teams.
Stanford will visit Bay Area rival California for a three-game non-conference series this weekend. The series opens at Evans Diamond this Friday, February 25 (2:00 p.m.).