April 16, 2000
Stanford, Calif. - Senior third baseman John Gall (Portola Valley, CA/St. Francis HS) broke Stanford's career hit record when he doubled in the bottom of the eighth inning of #5 Stanford's 9-4 win over Washington in a Pac-10 baseball game Sunday at Sunken Diamond. Gall's record-breaking hit was the 332nd of his illustrious Cardinal career and broke the former record held by Paul Carey (331, 1987-90). The double was also the 67th two-bagger of Gall's career, tying him with Troy Paulsen for Stanford's all-time record in that category. Gall broke Stanford's career RBI record earlier this season and is the school's current career leader in batting average (.366, 332-918). He is also only six hits from breaking the Pac-10 career record for hits of 337 currently held by Arizona's Chip Hale.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment for John Gall," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "The great thing is that he's not done yet. He has a lot more games remaining."
"It will probably mean even more to me after my collegiate career is finished, but I was happy to break the record at home in front of my family and this group of die-hard fans in the rain," added Gall. "There is so much more work to do now, and I am going to have to get a lot more hits this season if we are able to achieve our goal of getting back to the College World Series."
The Cardinal extended its season-high win streak to eight games and the victory kept Stanford (29-9 overall, 9-3 Pac-10) tied for first place in the Pac-10 with Arizona State, a 14-8 winner on Sunday at Washington State. Both teams are 9-3 in the Pac-10 and moved one-half game ahead of UCLA, who lost a 12-9 non-conference game to Cal State Northridge on Sunday. The Bruins are 7-2 in Pac-10 action.
Gall led the Cardinal offense by going 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI to continue his season-high 12-game hitting streak. Gall is hitting at a torrid pace during the streak with a .551 batting average (27-49) in addition to six doubles, six homers and 27 RBI. He has also scored 15 runs, walked six times and posted a 1.041 slugging percentage in the last 12 contests.
Stanford broke a 1-1 tie in today's game by scoring six times in the bottom of the fifth inning. Gall began the rally when he walked with one out and scored the first run of the frame on Damien Alvarado's RBI-single. Andy Topham and Eric Bruntlett each had RBI-doubles in the inning, while Edmund Muth drove home a run with a single. The other two runs scored on Craig Thompson's sacrifice fly and a Husky error.
Washington chipped away at the lead with single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth inning to cut the Stanford advantage to 7-4. All three Husky runs came across the plate on wild pitches.
Stanford added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Gall's record-setting RBI-double and an RBI-single by Arik VanZandt.
Topham (2-4, 2B, RBI), Bruntlett (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Joe Borchard (2-5, 2B) joined Gall with multiple-hit games. Washington's Ed Erickson (3-5, 2B, RBI) and Jefferson Thiel (2-5) led the Husky offensive attack.
Tim Cunningham (3-1) picked up the victory for the Cardinal, scattering six hits and two runs over the first 5.1 innings. Jeff Bruksch struck out four over the final 3.0 innings to pick up his eighth save of the season and the second of the series.
Washington starter Sean White (1-1) suffered the loss for Washington, allowing three runs on six hits and six walks over the first 4.1 innings.
Stanford next travels to #19 USC (25-15, 7-5 Pac-10) for a crucial three-game Pac-10 series. The Trojans, losers of two-of-three at California this weekend, currently stand in fourth place in the Pac-10 and two full games behind co-leaders Stanford and Arizona State.