May 25, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - No. 5 Stanford (41-15) completed a three-game sweep of Cal Poly (27-28-1) and finished its 2003 regular season with an 8-4 victory over the Mustangs Sunday on Senior/Fan Appreciation Day at Sunken Diamond, winning for the 13th time in its final 14 regular season games. On Sunday, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee also selected Stanford as one of 16 regional sites for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship for the eighth consecutive year. Stanford earned an automatic berth to the postseason by clinching the outright regular season Pac-10 title last Sunday and posted an 18-6 conference record.
"We earned the right to host an NCAA Regional by winning the Pac-10 championship and having the type of regular season that we did playing against some very tough competition both within our league and in our non-conference schedule," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "It will be good for our players and our fans to be hosting an NCAA Regional, and it's just nice to play at home."
The NCAA Regional at Sunken Diamond will begin with two games next Friday, May 30 (2 pm, 6 pm). Three games will be played on Saturday, May 31 (11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm) with the regional championship slated for Sunday, June 1 (1 pm, 5 pm if necessary). The entire 64-team field, top eight national seeds and first round regional pairings will be announced live on ESPN2 on Monday, May 26 (9:30 am, PT).
"We had a phenomenal regular season," continued Marquess. "The NCAA playoffs are like a whole new season, but I think we're ready for it."
On Sunday, Stanford's Chris Carter (2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) had the game's only homer and two RBI, while Sam Fuld (2-4) extended his hit streak to 14 games and Ryan Garko (2-3) also had a pair of hits. Jonny Ash and Donny Lucy added two RBI each.
Garko, a Pac-10 Player of the Year candidate and Johnny Bench Award national semifinalist, finished the regular season with a .406 batting average to go with new career-highs of 15 homers and 78 RBI. He is attempting to become just the sixth player in Stanford Baseball history to hit over .400 in a season and the first since David McCarty batted .420 in 1991. His 78 RBI currently rank him fifth on Stanford's single-season list, 14 shy of the 92 runs driven in by school record holder Rick Lundblade in 1985.
"I'm pretty excited about us hosting the NCAA Regionals," said Garko. "It was our goal to win the Pac-10 championship and get an opportunity to do this. It's really important to be playing your best baseball heading into the postseason, and I think we're doing that right now."
Fuld now ranks ninth on Stanford's all-time hit list with 273 and maintained has an updated .355 career batting average, fifth in the school's record book.
Stanford starter Tim Cunningham (3-3) was awarded the victory due to a predetermined pitching rotation, scattering two hits and one run with a pair of strikeouts in the first 3.0 innings. Cunningham's victory improved his career record to 24-8, leaving him just one win shy of Stanford's top 10 list in victories. Jonny Dyer and Kodiak Quick both pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.
Mustang starter Andrew McDaniel (4-6) suffered the loss after failing to make it out of the bottom of the first inning, allowing four runs, three hits and a pair of walks while recording just two outs.
Cal Poly did not have a player with more than one hit.
Stanford started the scoring with its four-run first frame. Fuld walked to lead off the inning and scored on an RBI triple by Jonny Ash. Carlos Quentin followed with his 50th RBI of the season, hitting a single that scored Ash and Garko singled to put runners on first and second base with two runs already across the plate. McDaniel picked Quentin off second base for the first out of the inning and struck out Danny Putnam before walking Carter and being replaced by Nolan Moser, who proceeded to walk Jed Lowrie to load the bases before giving up a two-run single to Donny Lucy.
Cal Poly got one run back in the top of the second inning when Josh Mayo doubled to lead off the inning, moved to second on a groundball by Kyle Wilson and scored on an RBI groundout from Alex Chavarria.
Stanford came up with a run in the bottom of the third to take a 5-1 lead when Carter hit a mammoth solo homer over the right field wall.
Stanford added two more runs in the fifth. Garko drew a one-out walk, moved to third on a single by Putnam and scored on an RBI double from Carter. Lowrie followed with an RBI groundout to plate Putnam.
The Cardinal scored its final run of the 2003 regular season in the bottom of the sixth when Tobin Swope walked, moved to third on a single by Fuld and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ash.Cal Poly scored twice in the eighth to cut the Cardinal lead to 8-3. Trevor Howell drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a single by Pat Breen and third when Scott Anderson hit into a fielders choice before scoring on an RBI single from Adam Leavitt. Billy Saul then followed with an RBI single to plate Anderson.
The Mustangs scored the final run of the game in the top of the ninth when Wilson led off with a single to extend his hit streak to 12 games, moved to third on a double by Chavarria and scored on an RBI groundout from Breen.
Stanford left seven runners on base, while the Mustangs stranded six.
Stanford finished the regular season with a 24-10 record at Sunken Diamond and was 23-9 in non-conference games.
Stanford defeated Cal Poly for the seventh straight time and improved to 43-5 in the all-time series between the teams (since 1949).