Feb. 7, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Tobin Swope's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning scored John Mayberry, Jr. with the winning run to give No. 3 Stanford (3-3) a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Florida State (3-1) in the opener of a three-game series on Friday at Sunken Diamond. Mayberry started a two-out game-winning rally with a single to left field and stole second base before Jonny Ash drew an intentional walk to set up Swope's game-winning hit on a 0-1 pitch from losing pitcher Rhett James (0-1).
"He just left a pitch up over the plate, and I was able to get a good swing on it," said Swope after his game-winning hit ended a game that last three hours and 45 minutes. "We weren't thinking about just having been swept last weekend at Cal State Fullerton, but it was good to get some momentum going and win on our home field."
Swope (3-6, RBI, SB) and Brian Hall (3-6, 2 2B) combined for six of Stanford's 11 hits as the Cardinal snapped its three-game losing streak. Hall extended his hit streak dating back to last season to seven games and leads the club with a .480 batting average through its first six contests but was caught stealing in the fifth inning for only the second time in 26 career attempts. Mayberry also hit safely in his sixth straight game to begin his Stanford career with his 12th inning single.
Derrick Smith (2-4, 2B) and Tony McQuade (2-5, RBI) had four of the six Seminole hits.
Stanford reliever Mark Romanczuk (1-0) picked up the victory by pitching hitless baseball and striking out four over the final 3.0 innings. Stanford starter John Hudgins lasted 9.0 innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters without a walk to earn no-decision before yielding to Romanczuk to begin extra innings. Hudgins scattered just six hits and gave up only a run in the top of the first inning.
Florida State scored its only run of the game when Stephen Drew led off the contest with a bad-hop infield single, stole second base and scored on a soft line drive RBI single down the left field line by McQuade.
Hudgins retired 12 straight Seminoles after the first two batters of the game before finally surrendering his third hit of the contest when Smith led off the fifth with a single. Hudgins also gave up a one-out single to McQuade in the sixth, a one-out double to Smith in the seventh and a leadoff single by Eddy Martinez-Esteve in the ninth.
Stanford left a total of 16 runners on base, stranding runners on base in each of the first six innings and leaving runners in scoring position in five of those frames. The Cardinal trailed 1-0 until finally breaking through with a run in the seventh inning when pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie and Sam Fuld led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. The Cardinal would draw two walks later in the frame to load the bases before Kevin Lynch forced Ryan Garko into an inning-ending double play.
Stanford threatened to score in both the eighth and ninth innings. Ash tripled down the right field line with one out in the eighth but was tagged out at the plate by Seminole catcher Tony Richie on a suicide squeeze attempt by Swope, who bunted the ball right in front of the plate where Richie was able to pick up the ball and tag Ash before he crossed home plate. In the ninth, Hall doubled with one out and Carlos Quentin was walked for third time in the game (second intentional) before Trent Peterson induced Danny Putnam into an inning ending double play.
Florida State had its most serious chance to score in the top of the 11th inning, putting runners on second and third base with no outs. Bryan Zech walked to lead off the frame, moved to second on a balk and third when Hall dropped Romanczuk's throw at third base on Drew's sacrifice bunt attempt. After Drew stole second base, Romanczuk fielded a ground ball hit by McQuade and tossed Zech out at the plate for the first out of the inning. Romanczuk then struck out Martinez-Esteve and retired Tony Richie on a ground out to Ash at second to get out of the jam.
The victory extended Stanford's home win streak to 11 games dating back to last season.
Stanford head coach Mark Marquess won the 1096th game of his illustrious career, leaving him four victories shy of becoming the 21st coach to win 1100 Division I collegiate baseball games. Marquess needs just five wins to take over sole possession of 20th place on the all-time NCAA Division I victory list.
Stanford and Florida State continue their three-game set with single games on Saturday and Sunday, both beginning at 1:00 pm, PT. Friday's victory gave Stanford a slim 8-7 lead in the all-time series between the clubs as the Cardinal defeated the Seminoles for the sixth time in their last seven meetings. Stanford LHP Tim Cunningham (1-1, 3.97) is scheduled to square off with Florida State LHP Matt Lynch (1-0, 7.20) on Saturday. RHP Mark Sauls (1-0, 0.00) is slated for the Seminoles on Sunday, while Stanford has yet to announce its starting pitcher.