March 2, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - #9 Stanford (14-4) received another outstanding pitching performance from Jeremy Guthrie and Mike Wodnicki as the Cardinal defeated California (9-5) by a score of 3-1 in a non-conference game at Sunken Diamond. Stanford has now won 12 of its last 13 games, including five in a row, and the pitching staff has been the key. Guthrie (4-0) picked up his fourth consecutive victory and struck out a career-high 10 batters, holding the Golden Bears to an unearned run and four hits over the first 8.0 innings. Wodnicki earned his third save of the season by coming on in the ninth inning to retire the final three California batters with the go-ahead run at the plate. The Cardinal pitching staff lowered its season ERA to 2.98 and the starting trio of Guthrie, Jeff Bruksch and Tim Cunningham is now a combined 11-0 on the season with an ERA of 2.15.
"This was obviously a great pitching performance by both Guthrie and Wodnicki," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "I think that Guthrie and Hutchinson are two of the better pitchers in the country."
"I felt really good tonight and had a lot of help from my defense to get me out of a couple of jams," added Guthrie, who stranded runners in scoring position in four separate innings.Stanford broke a 1-1 tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on RBI singles by Scott Dragicevich and Carlos Quentin.
Quentin (2-3, RBI) was the only player for either team with more than one hit.
Guthrie and California's Trevor Hutchinson were engaged in a scoreless pitching dual until the
Cardinal picked up a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Darin Naatjes led off the inning with a walk and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by Chris O'Riordan.
California immediately responded with an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning. Brian Horwitz led off the inning with a single and eventually scored on a two-out error by Cardinal third baseman Andy Topham.
Hutchinson (2-2) took the loss for California, allowing five hits and three runs in 6.0 innings.
Stanford and California continue their three-game non-conference series with a pair of singles games at Sunken Diamond on Saturday and Sunday, both beginning at 1:00 p.m.