Feb. 10, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - #14 Stanford (6-3) continued to roll as the Cardinal defeated #7 Florida State (2-2) for the second time in as many days and extended its winning streak to four games with a 5-2 victory Saturday at Sunken Diamond. Coupled with last night's win over the Seminoles, the victory assured the Cardinal of winning its ninth straight regular season series dating back to last season.
"This team has surprised me a little bit," admitted head coach Mark Marquess, winner of his 1001st collegiate game, about his 2001 team that has no seniors on the roster. "We've played well and have been in a lot of close games early this season. We've had a chance to win every game, and I am pleased with that."
Jeff Bruksch (1-0) earned his first victory of the season, holding the Seminoles scoreless for the first seven innings before eventually surrendering a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. Bruksch allowed just four hits and struck out nine before John Hudgins came on in relief and recorded the final five outs for his third save of the campaign.
"The key for us was Jeff Bruksch pitching well," added Marquess.
"I was happy with my performance," said Bruksch. "I just tried to keep it close and give our club a chance to get on the scoreboard first."
Chris O'Riordan (2-4, 2 RBI), Scott Dragicevich (2-4, RBI) and Arik VanZandt (2-5) led the Cardinal offensive attack.
The Cardinal scored all five of its runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.VanZandt started the Cardinal fifth inning by beating out an infield single. After stealing second base, VanZandt came around to score on an RBI single by Jason Cooper to give Stanford a 1-0 lead. Dragicevich and Andy Topham both had RBI singles to extend Stanford's lead to 3-0 before O'Riordan's two-out, two-RBI single closed out the scoring.
Florida State, which has scored only four runs in the first two games of the series, finally broke through with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning. John-Ford Griffin drove in both runs with a two-run double off Bruksch.
Matt Lynch suffered the loss for the Seminoles, allowing eight hits and five runs in the first 4.2 innings.
Jason VanMeetren had a pair of stolen bases for the Cardinal.Stanford and Florida State will conclude their three-game series at Sunken Diamond on Sunday (1:00 p.m.).
"Florida State is a quality baseball program and they are not going to want to get swept," said Marquess. "They'll come out and play well tomorrow. We'll have to play another solid game if we hope to beat them."