March 3, 2000
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford junior right-hander Justin Wayne pitched the first shutout of his illustrious collegiate career as #2 Stanford defeated Santa Clara, 1-0, in a non-conference baseball game at Sunken Diamond. Wayne was dominant once again for the Cardinal, striking out 12 batters and allowing just three hits as he improves his career Stanford best pitching record to 21-1. Wayne has jumped out to a 5-0 start in the 2000 season with victories in five of his six outings. He has won his last 15 decisions overall.
The Cardinal improves to 12-5 with its fifth win in the last six games. Santa Clara has its four-game win streak snapped and falls to 7-10.
"I was able to find my rhythm by the middle of the game," said Wayne. "You just look at each inning that you've thrown and try to do better the next time you go out there."
"This was another great pitching performance by Justin Wayne," added Stanford head coach Mark Marquess following the contest. "Thank goodness he gave us another great effort. We only scored one run so there was no room for error. The thing is that if you pitch well and you play good defense, you give yourself a chance to win. This was a good collegiate baseball game with good pitching and defense by both teams."
Wayne was particularly dominant after working his way out of a bases loaded jam in the second inning, giving up just two hits and walking only one over the final 7.2 innings. He retired the side in order in the first, third, fifth and eighth innings.
"Justin has been amazing all year," said Stanford catcher Damien Alvarado. "He throws the ball where he wants to when he wants to. If he keeps doing that, he's going to win a lot of games."The Broncos did have a mini-threat in the top of the ninth when Wayne hit Joey Gomes with one out to put the tying run on first base. Wayne then composed himself and retired the final two hitters of the game on called strikeouts.
Stanford scored the only run it needed in the bottom of the sixth. Eric Bruntlett led off the inning with a double off Bronco pitcher Matt Travis (1-3), who suffered the loss despite allowing the Cardinal just five hits and a single run in 8.0 innings. Bruntlett advanced to third on a wild pitch and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Edmund Muth.
Stanford's Billy Jacobson (2-for-3) was the only player for either team with more than one hit. Ryan Garko also had his first collegiate extra base hit for the Cardinal, a one-out double in the seventh.
The teams continue their three-game series with a single game on Saturday at Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium before returning to Sunken Diamond on Sunday to complete the series. Both games begin at 1:00 p.m.