April 10, 2001
Reno, NV -- No. 1 Stanford (28-7) outlasted Nevada (20-17) for an 18-13 non-conference victory at Peccole Park. Stanford's 18 runs and 23 hits were both season-highs for the Cardinal. Arik VanZandt (4-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Sam Fuld (4-5, 2B, 3 RBI) and Scott Dragicevich (4-5, 2B, 2 RBI) all had new career-highs of four hits to lead the Stanford offense. Ryan Garko (3-5, HR, 3 RBI) and Carlos Quentin (3-7, 2 RBI) added three hits each. Stanford won its third straight game and has now won 14 of 16 overall.
The game featured a total of 31 runs, 39 hits and nine home runs.
"This was a crazy game," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "But give our hitters credit, we had a great offensive game."
Nevada had 18 hits off seven different Cardinal pitchers. Joey Herrera (3-5, 2B, RBI) and Mike Gilles (3-6, HR, 2 RBI) had three hits each for the Wolf Pack.
Nevada opened a long day of scoring with a two-run homer by Mike Gillies in the bottom of the first inning.
Stanford scored the next eight runs, scoring four times in both the second and third innings.
Topham led off the top of the second inning with a monster homer to left field to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games. Hall singled home Dragicevich to tie the game at 2-2. VanZandt then singled home Garko to give Stanford a 3-2 lead. Fuld's double scored VanZandt finish off the four-run rally.
Stanford put together five consecutive hits to score four runs in the top of the third frame after Nevada reliever George Moran had retired the first two batters of the inning. Garko hit his first career homer, a solo shot to left field to begin the Stanford rally. Hall then triple and was doubled home by VanZandt for the second run of the inning. Fuld singled home VanZandt and later scored on an RBI single by O'Riordan to give Stanford an 8-2 lead.
Nevada cut the Cardinal margin to 8-4 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning. Bo Bryant's two-out RBI single scored Joey Herrera, who had led off the inning with a single. Bryant eventually scored on an error by Topham on a ground ball to third base by JaRell McIntyre. The Wolf Pack left the bases loaded when Stanford reliever Ryan McCally forced Alex Rangel to hit into an inning-ending fielders choice.
Stanford scored four more runs in the top of the fifth inning. VanZandt and Fuld led off the inning with singles and the Cardinal loaded the bases with no outs on a walk to O'Riordan. Another walk by Wolf Pack reliever James Holcomb to VanMeetren scored VanZandt. Carlos Quentin then snapped out of an 0-for-15 skid with a two-RBI single to score Fuld and O'Riordan. Dragicevich singled home VanMeetren for Stanford's final run of the inning.
Nevada scored a single run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a solo homer by Chris Dickerson, his 10th of the season.
Stanford picked up two more in the top of the sixth frame with on a solo homer by VanZandt and a sacrifice fly from VanMeetren to take a 14-5 advantage.
Nevada cut the lead to 14-10 with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Wolf Pack hit four home runs off Stanford reliever Jason Luker. Pinch-hitter Ryan Strain opened the scoring in the inning with a two-run shot. Bryant, McIntyre and pinch-hitter Curtis Wickwire all hit solo homers before John Hudgins came on in relief to record the final out of the inning.
Stanford added a run in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Fuld for a 15-10 margin and picked up three more in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Dragicevich and a two-RBI single from Garko.
Nevada finished the scoring with a pair of runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth.
Topham (15 games) and Fuld (12 games) both extended their career-high hitting streaks for the Cardinal, while VanMeetren had his career-high hitting streak snapped at 11 games.
Mike Wodnicki (3-1) earned the victory after being considered the most effective of seven Stanford pitchers. Wodnicki gave up two hits and a run in 1.1 innings of middle relief as the third Cardinal pitcher. J.D. Willcox, the team's final pitcher
Nevada starting pitcher Craig Norris (0-1), the first of six Wolf Pack hurlers, was charged with the loss.
Stanford will next host Oregon State in a three-game conference series this Thursday-Saturday, April 12-14 (6 pm, 6 pm, 1 pm).