April 6, 2002
Tucson, Ariz. - No. 2 Stanford (22-6, 2-0 Pac-10) exploded for a 19-1 victory over Arizona (21-14, 2-6 Pac-10) by producing season-highs in both runs and hits (26) in a Pac-10 game on a windy afternoon at Frank Sancet Field on Saturday. Sam Fuld (3-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI) drove in a career-best six runs, while Chris O'Riordan (3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI) had the first two-homer game of his career and Tobin Swope (5-5, 2B, 3 RBI) picked up a career-high five hits. Carlos Quentin (4-6, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI) also tied a career-best with four hits, while Donny Lucy (3-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI) and Andy Topham (3-6, 2B, 2 RBI) added three hits each.
"Baseball is a funny game," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess in reference to the team's offensive outbreak after struggling at the plate in recent games. "We got some balls up in the air today and they carried well the way the wind was blowing."
"This was probably the windiest game I've ever played in," added Fuld, who had his second career homer in the top of the second boosted by a strong wind blowing out to left field. "I was just trying to put the ball in play and hit the ball the other way."
The victory, which was Stanford's fourth in a row and 14th in its last 16 games, also extended the team's regular season series win streak to 11 in a row dating back to last season.
Stanford has also won 27 of its last 29 regular season series.
Tim Cunningham (5-1) earned the victory by limiting the Wildcats to five hits and one run over the first 7.0 innings with 15 ground ball outs. Cunningham had tossed 14.0 consecutive scoreless innings before giving up a run in the bottom of the sixth.
"We have a great offense, and I know that they will always be there to pick me up," said Cunningham, who tossed 9.0 scoreless innings but received a no-decision in a 2-0 loss to Texas in his last start. "Wins are nice, but it's more about keeping your team in the game, and I think I've done a decent job of that lately."
The victory was Cunningham's first since March 2 despite his 2.57 ERA, the best among Stanford's starters.
Jonny Dyer relieved Cunningham to begin the eighth inning and allowed just one hit over a scoreless final 2.0 innings to finish the game.
Arik VanZandt (2-6, 2B) and Ryan Garko (2-6) each added two hits as every Cardinal starter had at least one hit and eight of the nine starters posted multiple-hit contests.
Stanford had a season-high seven doubles in the contest.
Brad Hassey (3-4, 2B) had half of Arizona's six hits and was the only Wildcat with more than one hit.
The Cardinal jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Fuld hit a three-run homer down the left field line, giving the Cardinal a 3-0 advantage and O'Riordan followed with a solo shot to left field.
Stanford scored two unearned runs in the top of the third. Lucy doubled with two outs to drive in Topham, who had reached on an error. Swope then doubled home Lucy.
Stanford increased its advantage to 9-0 with a three-run fourth inning. O'Riordan led off the fourth with a solo homer before four consecutive singles by Brian Hall, Garko, Quentin and Topham plated the Cardinal two more runs.
Arizona's Justyn St. Clair scored the only run of the game for the Wildcats in the bottom of the sixth inning on a wild pitch by Cunningham.
Stanford's biggest inning was the seventh when the Cardinal scored seven times for a 16-1 lead, marking the 14th time Stanford has scored five or more runs in an inning this season. Topham led off the rally with a double and scored the first run of the inning on an RBI double by Lucy. Swope drove in VanZandt with an RBI single for the next Cardinal score before a two-RBI triple from Fuld scored Lucy and Swope. O'Riordan drove home Fuld with a sacrifice fly before Garko restarted the rally with a two-out single and scored on a triple by Quentin, who scored the final run of the inning when he was balked home by Wildcat reliever Matt Wersel.Stanford scored two more runs in the top of the eighth on a leadoff double by VanZandt, an RBI single from Swope and an RBI double from Fuld.
The Cardinal closed out the game's scoring in the top of the ninth on a one-out double by Quentin and an RBI single from Topham.
Swope's five-hit game came in only his second start at Stanford as he improved to 10-for-20 (.500) on the season.
"I've just been trying to get better and better every year and every day, so that when I do get a chance to play I can do well," said Swope, who was a member of the Cardinal for 158 games and nearly two and a half seasons before his first start versus Texas on March 23, 2002. "It's pretty satisfying to do well when I do get the chance."
Arizona starter Joe Little (5-3) was charged with the loss, allowing 13 hits and nine runs (seven earned) in 3.0 innings.
Stanford moved to within one-half game of first place USC (17-14, 4-1 Pac-10) with the victory after the Trojans lost 14-3 at home to Oregon State on Saturday. The Cardinal will host the Trojans in a three-game series at Sunken Diamond next Friday-Sunday, April 12-14 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT). Saturday's game will be televised by FOX.
Stanford and Arizona conclude the series on Sunday (1 pm, MT, 1 pm, PT). The game is at the same time in both the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones because Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time, which begins at 2:00 am on Sunday, April 7.