April 14, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - No. 1 Stanford (31-7, 10-2 Pac-10) exploded for a season-high 22 runs in a 22-5 victory over Oregon State (21-16, 5-7 Pac-10) in a Pac-10 game Saturday to complete a three-game sweep of the Beavers at Sunken Diamond. Arik VanZandt (2-4, 3B, HR, 6 RBI) and Carlos Quentin (2-3, 2B, HR, 5 RBI) combined to drive in 11 runs as both established new career-highs for RBI. VanZandt also hit his first career grandslam in the bottom of the fifth inning. Brian Hall (4-5, 2 RBI) had a new career-high four hits and Sam Fuld (4-5, 2 RBI) equaled his career-high hit total. Chris O'Riordan was 2-3 with a double, triple and three RBI. Scott Dragicevich (1-1, 3 BB) scored four runs, equaling the most scored by a Stanford player in a game this season. The game was shortened to seven innings due to a Pac-10 rule that allows for a contest to be called if one team leads by 10 or more runs after seven innings on the final day of a three-game series.
"I didn't even know the bases were loaded when I hit the homer," admitted VanZandt with a smile. "One of the guys told me in the dugout before I even realized it was a grandslam."
Stanford has now won six straight games and 17 of its last 19. Stanford's victory, coupled with a 5-4 USC loss in 10 innings at California on Saturday, increased the Cardinal lead in the Pac-10 race to 2.0 games over the Trojans. The teams meet in a three-game Pac-10 series in Los Angeles next Friday-Sunday, April 20-22 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm). Stanford and USC are the only two clubs in the Pac-10 with league records over .500.
"Fortunately, this was our day and that happens sometimes in baseball where everything you hit just falls in," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
Stanford scored in all six of the team's offensive innings beginning with three runs in the bottom of the first frame. Fuld led off the inning with the first of his four hits and moved to third on a double by O'Riordan before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Jason VanMeetren. Quentin then hit his two-run homer to give Stanford a 3-0 margin.
The Cardinal scored twice in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Fuld and a sacrifice fly from O'Riordan, who now has driven at least one run in 15 of his last 16 games and has a team-high 46 RBI.
Stanford added five runs in the bottom of the third frame. Dragicevich, Hall and Fuld each had RBI singles to account for the first three tallies. O'Riordan then tagged a two-RBI triple to score Hall and Fuld.
Oregon State picked up three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Curtis Davis and Josh Carter singled back-to-back to open the inning. Andy Jarvis drove home Davis with a double to put the Beavers on the scoreboard for the first time. Carter scored on a sacrifice bunt by Zach Gordon and Jarvis eventually crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
Stanford immediately answered with seven unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on only two hits, as the Cardinal capitalized on three Oregon State errors, four walks and three wild pitches. Ryan Garko walked with one out and scored the first run of the inning on a throwing error by Beaver second baseman Kerisi Reynolds. The Cardinal scored the next six runs in the inning after two outs. VanZandt's two-RBI triple brought home a pair of Stanford runs and VanZandt came around to score on the same play when Beaver shortstop Zach Gordon tossed the ball into the dugout trying to throw him out at third base. Quentin later cleared the bases with a two-out, three-RBI double.
Stanford continued its scoring binge in the bottom of the fifth inning on VanZandt's first career grandslam and picked up its final run of the afternoon on Hall's RBI single in the last half of the sixth.
Stanford starter Mike Gosling (3-0, 2.93) earned the victory, limiting the Beavers to three runs and three hits over the first 5.0 innings. Mike Wodnicki and Ryan McCally pitched the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, allowing one run each.
Carter (2-3) was the only Oregon State player with more than one hit while Gordon contributed a pair of RBI.
Oregon State starter Mark McLemore (0-4) was credited with the loss, allowing seven runs and five hits in 2.1 innings.
The Cardinal raised its team batting average to a season-high .309 after hitting .421 in the three-game Oregon State series and .447 in its four games this week, which also included a wild 18-13 win in a slugfest at Nevada on Tuesday, April 10.
Stanford will next host USF in a non-conference game at Sunken Diamond next Tuesday, April 17 (6 pm).