April 1, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - USF (13-19) surprised No. 4 Stanford (18-10) with a 9-5 victory over the Cardinal in a non-conference game at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday. The game was tied 4-4 before the Dons scored twice in the sixth and added two more runs in the seventh. Ryan Hanson (3-4, RBI) had three hits for the Dons, while Andrew Smith and Nick Cirbo each drove in a pair of runs. USF reliever Kevin Annis (3-2) picked up the victory by scattering a run and three hits in 2.0 innings of work before Derek Tate came on to hold the Cardinal scoreless over the final 2.2 innings to earn his first save of the season.
Stanford's Carlos Quentin (2-3, 2 2B, RBI) extended his career-high hit streak to 16 and picked up his 200th career hit with a first inning double. Ryan Garko (3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI) also doubled twice and drove in three runs to raise his team-leading RBI total to 36. Sam Fuld (2-4) extended his hit streak to 12 games, one short of his career-high, with his ninth multiple-hit game during the run.
Stanford reliever Billy Paganetti (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) and two hits in 3.0 innings as the second of five Cardinal pitchers. Paganetti did strike out a career-high six, including five in a row during one stretch.
Stanford jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Garko doubled home Fuld and Quentin, who had singled and doubled respectively with one out off of USF starter T.J. Franco.
USF answered with two runs off Cardinal starter Tim Cunningham as Hanson and Jonnie Knoble came up with back-to-back two-out RBI singles to score Joe Jacobitz and Royce Fukuroku, who had both walked earlier in the inning.
Stanford came back with a run in the bottom of the second when Jed Lowrie singled to lead off the inning and scored on a double by Tobin Swope down the left field line.
USF responded with two more runs in the top of the third when Nick Cirbo greeted Paganetti with a two-RBI double. The Dons rally had started on a one-out error by Lowrie at second base and continued with a walk to Jacobitz and a balk by Paganetti. After hitting the next batter, Paganetti struck out five consecutive hitters and allowed the Cardinal to stay within striking distance.
After going down in order in the third and the fourth, Stanford tied the score at 4-4 with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Fuld walked with one out to start the rally and chase Franco before Quentin was hit by a pitch after he got a second chance when his foul ball down the left line was dropped by Don leftfielder Nick Tarbat to put runners on first and second base. Garko then came through with an RBI single to plate Fuld.
USF's two-run sixth broke the 4-4 tie and put the Dons ahead to stay. Khamis Zananiri started the rally with a one-out walk and moved to second on a single by Hanson. The Dons scored their first run in the frame when Lowrie throw on the tail end of a double play attempt was wide at first base and allowed pinch-runner Craig Click to score on the play. USF added another run on a two-out RBI single by Tarbat.
The Dons scored two more runs in the top of the seventh on a two-out, two-RBI single by Andrew Smith. Jacobitz had started the rally with a one-out walk. After a wild pitch and walk to Nick Cirbo, the runners moved to second and third base on a groundout by Royce Fukuroku to set up Smith's clutch hit.
Stanford scored a run in the bottom of the seventh when Fuld led off the frame with his fifth triple of the season and scored on an RBI double by Quentin. Annis retiring Garko on a foul out to Hanson behind the plate before he was removed in favor of Tate, who allowed a single to pinch-hitter Donny Lucy before getting out of the jam by striking out John Mayberry, Jr. and retiring Brian Hall on a groundout.
USF added an unearned insurance run in the top of the eighth inning when Hanson led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Knoble and scored when a long fly ball by Tarbat glanced off the glove of a running Quentin in front of the warning track in deep right field.
Stanford put runners on second and third base in the bottom of the ninth but never brought the tying run to the plate and left them stranded when Tate retired Lucy on a strikeout and Mayberry on a pop-up to Fukuroku at second base to end the game.
Stanford was able to pick up 10 hits in the contest, running its string of double-digit hit games to 12 in a row.
The victory was the second time USF has defeated Stanford at Sunken Diamond in the past three seasons. The Dons were also a 5-4 winner over the Cardinal on April 17, 2001. Stanford still leads the all-time series, 47-7.
Stanford has still won 16 of its last 20 games, while USF won for just the second time in its last six outings.
Quentin raised his season batting average to an even .400 and is hitting at a .476 clip (30-63) during his 16-game hit streak.
Fuld is hitting .508 (30-59) on his 12-game hit streak and has an updated career batting average of .364, two percentage points ahead of the second-place .362 mark posted by the late Jack Shepard from 1951-53.
Stanford resumes Pac-10 action with a three-game series at Washington State this Friday-Sunday, April 4-6 (3 pm, 12 pm, 11 am, PT). The Cardinal is 4-2 in conference play and currently sits in a first-place tie in the Pac-10 standings with California.