March 28, 2000
Stanford, Calif. - #2 Stanford (20-7) reached the 20-win mark in a season for the 43rd straight year with a 5-2 victory over Saint Mary's (11-18) in a non-conference game at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday. The Cardinal continues its hot stretch with 13 wins in its last 16 games. Senior John Gall moved into second place on Stanford's all-time hit list when he launched a two-run homer in the third inning. Gall moved his career hit total to 307 and is now just 25 shy of eclipsing all-time leader Paul Carey, who collected 331 from 1987-90.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment for John Gall," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess following the game. "He's in good company and hopefully he will have broken the record by the end of the season."
"I might get a little more excited when I actually break the record," state Gall, who added that he did not realize he had moved past Hinch until he heard the announcement on Sunken Diamond's public address system.
Stanford tied its season-high with 14 hits this evening as three Cardinal players - Eric Bruntlett (3-3, 2B), Damien Alvarado (3-4, 2 2B) and Edmund Muth (3-5, 2 3B, 3 RBI) - had three hits each. Gall finished 2-for-4 with his homer and two RBI.
Mike Wodnicki, the second of six Stanford pitchers, was credited with the victory to improve to 2-0 on the season. Jeff Bruksch pitched the final two innings in scoreless fashion to earn his fifth save of the year.
Neal McSherry (2-2), who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, was the only Gael with more than one hit.
Saint Mary's jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run off Wodnicki in the top of the second on an RBI-double by Tom Nichols. Stanford rebounded with a three-run third, scoring on one of Muth's two triples and Gall's home run. The Cardinal made the score 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a pair of runs on Muth's second triple of the evening.
Muth's two triples moved his career total to 14, ranking 10th on Stanford's all-time list.Saint Mary's rallied for a run in the seventh inning, scoring on a throwing error by Stanford catcher Damien Alvarado.
The Gaels also sent the tying run to the plate with just one out in the ninth before Bruksch struck out Mike Reardon and B.J. Vesce to end the game.
Stanford next travels to #7 Arizona State for a crucial three-game Pac-10 series beginning in Tempe this Friday (7:00 p.m.). The teams will also play single games on Saturday and Sunday, both beginning at 1:00 p.m.