April 9, 2000
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Freshman starting pitcher Tim Cunningham allowed only two hits in seven innings in his third career start to lead the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal to a 16-0 Pac-10 victory over the Washington State Cougars on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field.
The win and series sweep improved the Cardinal record to 25-9 on the year and are now only one game back in the Pac-10 race with a 6-3 record. The Cougs suffered their fifth consecutive loss and are now 14-22 on the year, 2-7 in conference action.
Cunningham (2-1) earned the victory, shutting out the Cougars on only two hits in his appearance. Mike Gosling pitched a scoreless eighth and Jeff Bruksch tossed a hitless ninth to complete the shutout, marking the second time the Cardinal has blanked an opponent this season.
WSU starting pitcher Tyson Thompson continued to struggle with control problems in his outing and absorbed the loss by allowing eight runs and six walks in two-plus innings. Nick Kenyon scattered five hits over four innings and allowed only one earned run in his outing out of the bullpen. For the weekend, Kenyon posted a 1.50 ERA in 6.0 combined innings. Junior Donny Davis was also impressive Sunday, contributing two hitless innings of relief.
Stanford jumped out to a 13-0 lead after the first three innings. The Cardinal scored five times in the top of the first inning as Chris O'Riordan, Damien Alvarado and Jason VanMeetren all contributed RBI-singles in the inning. Stanford also scored on a Cougar error and a wild pitch in the inning.
After a run in the second, the high-powered Cardinal offense brought home seven more runs in the third to blow the game open. John Gall hit a three-run home run over to center field and two-sport star Joe Borchard plated two more runs with a double down the left field line.
Gall (3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) continued his torrid hitting to pace the Stanford offensive attack. Gall is now 19-for-33 with six home runs and 21 RBI over his last eight games. Borchard also had a big day for the Cardinal with a double, triple and two RBI in a 2-for-5 performance. Alvarado (2-2, RBI) and O'Riordan (2-4, 2B, RBI) were the other two Stanford players with multiple-hit games.
Ray Hattenburg was the only Cougar to record more than one hit on the day. The senior switch-hitter is now batting .354 (51x144) on the year after going 2-for-3 Sunday. While the Cougars were up against Stanford's potent offense, the pitching staff had an off weekend by issuing 28 walks, six wild pitches, and three hit batters. The Cardinal hit .377 off the WSU pitching staff for the weekend.
Stanford will travel to San Jose State for a non-league game this Tuesday before hosting Washington at Sunken Diamond in a three-game Pac-10 series beginning next Friday (6:00 p.m.).
STANFORD 517 000 030 -- 16 13 1 WASHINGTON STATE 000 000 000 -- 0 4 1
BATTERIES: Stanford Cunningham, Gosling (8), Bruksch (9) and Alvarado, Garza (8).
Washington State Thompson, Fisher (3), Kenyon (4), Davis (8) and Smith,
Baeder (8).
WIN Cunningham (2-1), LOSS Thompson (1-6), SAVE None.
HR'S: Stanford Gall (7th, 2 on in 3rd).
T 3:09, A 581.