March 25, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - #1 Stanford (21-5, 3-0 Pac-10) moved into sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 with a 13-4 victory over Washington (13-7, 2-4 Pac-10) to complete a three-game sweep of the Huskies at Sunken Diamond. The victory pushes Stanford's win streak to a season-high-tying seven games as the Cardinal has won 19 of its last 21 contests. Stanford has also beaten Washington eight consecutive times dating back to 1999. Carlos Quentin led the club's offensive attack, going 3-for-5 with a home run and a career-high four RBI. Mike Gosling (1-0) picked up his first win of the season by striking out a season-high six in 3.1 innings of middle relief.
"I've had some big home runs before but that was a good one," admitted a humble Quentin about his tape measure blast to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning. "I feel a responsibility to produce hitting in the cleanup spot."
"We really started to swing the bats well this weekend," added Stanford head coach Mark Marquess about his club, which hit .382 in the three-game series. "I'm very pleased with where we are considering that we have so many new guys on this club."
Stanford jumped out to an 11-0 lead after the first four innings. Scott Dragicevich extended his career-high hitting streak to 11 games by doubling off losing pitcher Jeff Carlsen to start Stanford's second inning rally. Dragicevich scored the team's first run on a double play ball hit by Ken Tirpack before Chris O'Riordan's two-out RBI single gave Stanford a 2-0 advantage.
The Cardinal scored four times in the bottom of the third inning, taking advantage of a pair of Washington errors for two unearned runs. Quentin collected the first of his four RBI's with a single to score Arik VanZandt, who had reached first base on a Husky error to lead off the inning. Dragicevich singled home a pair of runs before Brian Hall's sacrifice fly extended Stanford's lead to 6-0.
Stanford continued its scoring outburst with five runs in the bottom of the fourth frame. Quentin's RBI single scored VanZandt with the first run of the inning. Topham followed with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Jonny Ash had a two-RBI double before Tirpack's RBI single closed out the scoring.
Washington finally snapped a string of 14 consecutive scoreless innings with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning off Stanford starter Tim Cunningham, who received a no-decision after being removed from the game with two outs in the top of the fifth. The Huskies took advantage of two walks and a hit batsmen by Cunningham in the fifth, while Ben Miller also had an RBI double.
The Huskies added two more runs in the top of the sixth inning off Gosling, scoring on a balk and a wild pitch.
Quentin, who finished the series 7-for-14 (.500) with a homer and five RBI and now leads the Cardinal with a .358 batting average, completed the scoring with his two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning.
"Carlos (Quentin) has played great," responded Marquess. "You can't get him out with any one particular pitch. He's going to be a great player for us and get nothing but better."
Jason VanMeetren (2-2, 2B) and Dragicevich (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI) also had multiple-hit days for the Cardinal. VanMeetren reached base all five times, also walking twice and being hit by a pitch.Miller (3-5, 2 2B, RBI) and John Otness (2-3, 2B) led Washington's offensive attack.
Washington left 11 runners stranded, leaving runners in scoring position six times. The Cardinal left six runners on the base paths.
Carlsen (1-1), who relieved starter Sean White to begin the second inning after White felt pain in his throwing shoulder, suffered the loss, giving up six runs (four earned) and five hits in 1.0 innings of a work.
Stanford will close out its current 11-game homestand with a non-conference game versus Saint Mary's next Tuesday, March 27 (6:00 p.m.). The Cardinal travels to fifth-ranked Arizona State (20-6-1, 3-2 Pac-10) for a key conference series March 30-April 1.