March 28, 2002
Stanford, Calif. - Chris O'Riordan hit a grandslam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and Jonny Ash singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth to lead No. 1 Stanford (18-5) to a dramatic 7-6 victory over No. 16 Texas (24-7) in the first game of a three-game non-conference set at Sunken Diamond on Thursday. Stanford has now won 10 of its last 11 games, while Texas had its eight-game win streak snapped.
"I was expecting a fastball and that's what I got," said O'Riordan, who finished the game with a career-high five RBI. "He left it over the middle of the plate, and I tried to hit it out."
"That's why baseball is a great game, because there is no clock," added Stanford head coach Mark Marquess after the victory.
Stanford trailed 6-1 before scoring five times in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings. O'Riordan's grandslam just inside the left field four pole off Texas reliever and losing pitcher Alan Bomer (3-2) on an 0-1 pitch with two outs capped the rally. Stanford began the inning with three consecutive singles by pinch-hitter Tobin Swope, Carlos Quentin and Donny Lucy to cut the lead to 6-2. Bomer then retired pinch-hitters Ash and Danny Putnam before walking pinch-hitter Chris Carter to load the bases and set up O'Riordan's homer.
Ash lined his game-winning 10th-inning single off the glove of a diving Texas first baseman Jeff Ontiveros and pinch-runner Brian Hall raced all the way around from second base to score the winning run when the ball squirted into shallow right field. Stanford's rally in the 10th inning started when Ryan Garko reached on an error by Texas third baseman Omar Quintanilla. Hall then pinch-ran for Garko and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Swope. Quentin was then walked intentionally before Bomer struck out Lucy for the second out. Brantley Jordan then came on and gave up Ash's game-winning hit.
Texas stranded runners on first and second base in the 10th inning before winning pitcher Darin Naatjes (1-0) retired Ryan Hubele on a deep fly ball to center field that was caught by Cardinal centerfielder Sam Fuld in full stride on the warning track.
Texas jumped out in front 1-0 with an unearned run in the top of the second inning. Dustin Majewski reached second base when he led off the inning with a ground ball that Stanford first baseman Arik VanZandt misplayed for a two-base error. Majewski moved to third base on a fly ball by Hubele and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ontiveros.
The Longhorns increased their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fifth when Ontiveros doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Michael Hollimon through a drawn in Cardinal infield.
Stanford picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning to snap a Texas streak of 41 straight scoreless innings after the Longhorns posted a school record four consecutive shutouts last week. Andy Topham led off the inning with a deep fly ball that Longhorn rightfielder Joe Ferin dropped at the warning track for a two-base error. Scott Dragicevich walked to give the Cardinal a pair of base runners and Stanford had runners at second and third base with one out after a sacrifice bunt by VanZandt. O'Riordan's then drove in Topham with an RBI groundout for the first Cardinal run.
Texas increased its to 3-1 in the top of the sixth when Brandon Fahey connected on a solo homer to right field, the first long ball of his career.
Texas scored three more runs (two unearned) in the top of the eighth inning as the Longhorns took advantage of two of Stanford's season-high-tying four errors. Kalani Napolean led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a throwing error by Cardinal starter Jeremy Guthrie. Napolean then scored when Fuld dropped a fly ball hit to deep center field by Tim Moss before Fahey followed with an RBI double to score Moss. Moss scored to complete the Texas rally on an RBI ground out by Hubele.
Stanford's Jason Cooper extended his career-high hit streak to 15 games with a fourth-inning single, while O'Riordan's grandslam extended his hit streak to eight in a row.
Fahey (2-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) was the only player in the game with more than one hit.
Stanford improves to 8-0 in series-openers this season, while Jeremy Guthrie retained his 11-game win streak on the mound.
Stanford and Texas continue the three-game non-conference series at Sunken Diamond on Friday (6 pm, PT) and Saturday (1 pm, PT).