May 7, 2002
Santa Clara, Calif. - Ryan Garko (2-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI) had the first two-homer game of his career and tied a career-high with four runs scored to lead No. 7 Stanford (33-13) to a 13-2 victory over Santa Clara (23-27) in a non-conference game at Buck Shaw Stadium. Garko now has 11 homers this season, taking over the team lead. Stanford extended its win streak to four games and won three of four games in its season series against the Broncos.
"It was exciting," said Garko about his two homers. "But, the most important thing is to just keep winning games."
Six other Stanford hitters - Jason Cooper (2-3, 3B, 3 RBI, SB), Carlos Quentin (2-3, RBI, SB), Brian Hall (2-3, RBI, SB), Andy Topham (2-4, RBI, SB), Arik VanZandt (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Sam Fuld (2-6, HR, 2 RBI, SB) - had two hits each as the Cardinal finished with 16 hits. Fuld recorded his seventh straight multiple-hit game and his 13th in the last 14 contests as he is hitting .542 (32-59) during the stretch. Stanford tied a season-high with five stolen bases.
Stanford starter Darin Naatjes (4-0) picked up the win as the first of four Cardinal pitchers that combined for 11 strikeouts. Naatjes shut out the Broncos on one hit for the first 3.0 innings and stuck out a career-high five. Mark Jecmen tossed 3.0 innings, scattering three hits and one run with two strikeouts. Drew Ehrlich struck out three in 2.0 scoreless innings before Dan Rich gave up one run and struck out one in the ninth.
"Tonight's win was an all-around team effort," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "We had a lot of guys contribute offensively and everybody pitched well."
A.J. LaBarbera (2-3) and Jim Wallace (2-4, 2B) had two hits each for the Broncos, while Joey Gomes hit his 28th double of the season in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Stanford opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Garko hit his first home run over the leftcenter field fence with two outs before three consecutive singles by Cooper, Quentin and Hall gave the Cardinal another run.
The Cardinal added two runs in the top of the third inning on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Cooper and Quentin to increase its lead to 4-0. Fuld beat out an infield single to start the rally before advancing to second on a walk to Garko and third on the same play on the first of two wild pitches in the inning by Bronco reliever Nash Robertson. Garko moved to second on Robertson's second wild pitch.
Stanford scored three more runs in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer by Fuld and Garko's second solo homer of the game to make the score 7-0.
The Cardinal erupted for six runs in the top of the fifth to take a 13-0 lead as a two-RBI triple by Cooper capped the rally. VanZandt also had an RBI single in the inning and Topham picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Stanford scored its other two runs in the inning on a pair of Bronco errors.
Stanford's six-run fifth inning marked the 21st time this season the Cardinal has scored five or more runs in an inning.
Santa Clara got on the scoreboard when Jim Wallace doubled home Pat Peavey with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Broncos also scored a run in the bottom of the ninth when LaBarbera walked, moved to third on Gomes' double and scored on an RBI fielders choice from Pat Peavey.
Santa Clara starter Matt Krueger (0-1) took the loss as the first of six Bronco pitchers, giving up two runs and four hits in the first inning. Patrick McBride held Stanford scoreless on four hits over the final 4.0 innings.
Santa Clara left 12 runners on base, while the Cardinal stranded five.
Stanford returns to Pac-10 action by hosting Arizona State in a three-game series this Friday-Sunday, May 10-12 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PDT). The Cardinal and Sun Devils are tied for third place, along with Oregon State, in the Pac-10 standings with 9-6 conference records. First place USC (11-4 Pac-10) and second place Washington (10-5 Pac-10) also meet in a key Pac-10 series this Friday-Sunday in Los Angeles.