May 12, 2001
Stanford, CA - No. 7 Stanford could not overcome the pitching of Sean Rierson, a three-run home run by Pac-10 leader Shelley Duncan and four double plays, all leading to a 5-4 loss today to Arizona in a key Pac-10 game at Sunken Diamond.
The loss keeps the Cardinal (38-14, 13-7) in second place behind conference leader USC. Arizona improved to 30-22 overall and 9-11 in the conference.Rierson (6-4) allowed two runs on eight hits in seven innings of work to pick up the win. Stanford's Jeff Bruksch gave up all of his runs in a four run fourth inning. The loss snapped the Cardinal's three game winning streak.
"I thought Rierson did a good job keeping us off balance," said Cardinal head coach Mark Marquess. "But, we hit into four double plays and did not get the key hit we needed. We hit the ball hard at times, but right at someone. I thought we had our chances in the eighth and ninth innings, but just couldn't get a hit to drive in a few runs."
Stanford loaded the bases in the eighth inning with none out, trailing 4-2. Centerfielder Brian Anderson came on to pitch in relief of Daryl DeSalvo and his task was facing the Cardinal's No. 3 and No. 4 hitters in Ryan Garko and Jason Cooper. Anderson proceeded to force Garko to pop out and Cooper to ground into a double play.
In the ninth, the Wildcats scored what proved to be the game winning run off Cardinal reliever John Hudgins. Brad Hassey doubled with one out and scored on a wild pitch and passed ball.
Stanford again loaded the bases in the ninth. Chris O'Riordan, who had four hits on the day, lined a two-run single to center, pulling the Cardinal to within a run at 5-4. But, Anderson got Garko to foul out to the catcher to preserve the win.
Arizona scored four runs in the fourth inning to turn a scoreless tie into a 4-0 Wildcat lead. With one out, Shelley Duncan hit a three-run home run off Bruksch to put UA on top 3-0. It was Duncan's 22nd homer of the season. One out later, Brian Anderson took a Bruksch pitch over the left field fence for his third homerun of the season and a four-run lead for Arizona.Stanford closed the gap to 4-2 by scoring twice in the sixth inning. The Cardinal had the bases loaded with none out when Sam Fuld grounded into a double play, scoring one run. Garko knocked home Tobin Swope on an RBI single for Stanford's second run of the inning.
The two teams conclude their three-game series tomorrow (Sunday, May 13) with a 1:00 pm game at Sunken Diamond. Stanford will complete the regular season with a three game series at Washington State May 18-20 in Pullman, WA.