April 14, 2002
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USC (20-15, 6-2) at No. 2 Stanford (24-8, 3-2)
Friday, April 12 - at Stanford 6, USC 5 (10 inn.)
Saturday, April 13 - USC 16, at Stanford 11
Sunday, April 14, 1 pm, PT - J.P. Howell (3-3, 4.70) vs. RHP John Hudgins (5-0, 4.70)
A live audio broadcast of Sunday's Stanford-USC game will be available on KZSU (90.1 FM) as well as online at gostanford.com ... Chad Goldberg (play-by-play) and Nick Kapur (color analysis) will call all the action ... Live stats will also be available for the game at gostanford.com.
STANFORD BASEBALL QUICK TEAM NOTES
Stanford and USC will play the key rubber game of a three-game series this afternoon after splitting the first two games with a 6-5 Cardinal win in 10 innings on Friday and a 16-11 USC victory on Saturday in a nationally televised FOX Sports Net game ... USC currently leads the Pac-10 by one-half game over Arizona State and 1.5 games over Stanford ... Stanford needs a win on Sunday to extend its regular season series win streak to 12 ... Stanford has won 16 of its last 20 games overall and had won five straight games versus USC before Saturday's USC victory ... The Cardinal is 10-0 in series openers and 6-3 in series finales ... Stanford has played five extra-inning games in its last 11 contests and is 4-1 in extra-inning games this season ... Stanford has come from behind in 11 of its 24 victories ... Stanford has scored five or more runs in an inning 15 times this season ... Stanford is averaging 8.3 runs per game, has reached double figure runs nine times and double figure hits on 23 occasions ... Stanford is currently hitting .324 (.013 behind the school record pace of .337 set in 1981), has a 4.12 ERA and a .969 fielding percentage ... Stanford was errorless for the first time in six games on Saturday ... Stanford's 24-8 record this season is one game behind the team's 25-7 mark through 32 games a year ago ... Stanford has yet to lose two games in a row this season and has put together a pair of five-game win streaks (2/24 - 3/8, 3/10 - 3/28) ... Stanford has "won every inning" this year, outscoring its opponents in every frame of action ... Stanford is now the nation's No. 2 team behind Clemson in all four major national polls by Baseball America, Baseball Weekly/ESPN, Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA ... Stanford is attempting to qualify for the College World Series for the fourth consecutive season as the 2002 senior class is looking to become the first class of Stanford Baseball players to reach Omaha in each of its four years ... Stanford has qualified for the CWS title game in each of the last two seasons ... Stanford is coming off three straight 50-win seasons for the first time in school history and has compiled a record of 175-56 (.758) since 1999.
STANFORD BASEBALL QUICK INDIVIDUAL NOTES
National Player of the Year candidate Jason Cooper continues to lead the team with a .393 batting average, nine homers and 36 RBI ... Cooper had his second two-homer game of hte season versus USC on Saturday ... Chris O'Riordan is second among regulars with a .356 batting average and leads the team in hits (48) and is a co-leader along with Ryan Garko in runs scored (37) ... O'Riordan, Garko and Carlos Quentin are all tied for second on the club with six homers, while Quentin is second with 30 RBI and third with a .347 batting average ... Sam Fuld has a team-high 12 doubles, while Brian Hall paces the club with seven stolen bases and Quentin leads the team with three triples ... Stanford's regular starting rotation of Jeremy Guthrie, Tim Cunningham and John Hudgins is a combined 16-2 with a 3.77 ERA ... Guthrie has won 11 consecutive decisions, while leading the team in strikeouts (66) and innings pitched (73.1)
CHRIS O'RIORDAN MAKING A RUN AT TOP OF CAREER BATTING AVERAGE LIST
Chris O'Riordan (.361, 223-618) has moved back into second place on Stanford's career batting average list and is only one percentage point behind all-time leader Jack Shepard (.362).
STANFORD-USC BASEBALL HISTORY
Stanford and USC conclude a key Pac-10 series on Sunday (1 pm, PT) after splitting the first two games of the series. Stanford temporarily knocked the Trojans out of first-place with a dramatic 6-5 victory in 10 innings in the series-opener on Friday before USC regained its stop on top of the conference standings with a wild 16-11 win on Saturday. Stanford had won five straight against the Trojans overall including a non-conference sweep last month before Saturday's USC win. Last year, Stanford won four of the six games played between the teams.
SERIES GAME RECAPS
USC 16, at Stanford 11 (April 13, 2002) - Sam Fuld singled down the left field line with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Stanford to a 6-5 victory over USC. Stanford had three solo homers in the contest by Danny Putnam, Chris O'Riordan and Chris Carter. Ryan Garko (2-4, 2B), O'Riordan (2-4, HR, RBI), Putnam (2-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Andy Topham (2-5) had two hits each as the Cardinal registered 13 hits. Michael Morales (2-4), Brian Barre (2-5, 2B, 2 RBI) and Michael Moon (2-5, RBI) had two hits each for the Trojans. Stanford reliever Ryan McCally (3-0) earned the victory, while Jon Williams (4-2) took the loss.
USC................. 200 020 000 1 - 5 7 3 Stanford............ 010 001 110 2 - 6 13 3Win-McCally(3-0) Loss-Williams(4-2) Save-None T-3:25 A-3001
BATTERIES: USC - Reyes, Bt. Bannister (7), Howell (8), Williams (8), Rummonds (10) and Bonovich. Stanford - Guthrie, McCally (10) and Garko, Lucy (10). HRs: Stanford - Putnam (1st, solo in 2nd), O'Riordan (6th, solo in 6th), Carter (2nd, solo in 7th).
at Stanford 6, USC 5 (April 12, 2002) - USC held on for a wild 16-11 victory over Stanford. The Trojans jumped out to an 11-0 lead after the first inning and a half, scoring six runs in the top of the first inning and five more in the second. David Gordon (4-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI) led the USC offense, while Jason Cooper had his second two-homer game of the season as the Cardinal homered a season-high five times as Carlos Quentin, Arik VanZandt and Brian Hall also went deep. Chris O'Riordan (3-5, RBI) had three hits for the Cardinal. USC's Matt Chico picked up the victory, while Stanford's Tim Cunningham suffered the loss.
USC................. 650 003 011 - 16 16 1 Stanford............ 030 040 103 - 11 12 0Win-Chico(5-3) Loss-Cunningham(5-2) T-3:21 A-2930
USC - Chico, Bt. Bannister (6), Rummonds (7), Campos (9) and Bonovich. Stanford -Cunningham, Jecmen (2), Ehrlich (6), Dyer (8) and Garko. HRs: USC - Metropoulos (3-run in 1st), Stanford - Cooper 2 (solo in 2nd, 3-run in 9th), Hall (2-run in 2nd), Quentin (3-run in 5th), VanZandt (solo in 7th).