June 15, 2003
Recap|Box Score|Quotes|Photo Gallery
Stanford will next play at the 2003 College World Series in an elimination game on Tuesday, June 17 (1 pm, CT/11 am, PT) versus South Carolina (Game 9). Tuesday's game will be broadcast live by ESPN.Should Stanford win versus South Carolina on Tuesday, it would advance to its fifth consecutive bracket final on Wednesday, June 18 (1 pm, PT; ESPN2) but would need to defeat Cal State Fullerton on both Wednesday and Thursday (1 pm or 6 pm, CT/11 am or 4 pm, PT).Stanford holds a 4-1 all-time lead versus South Carolina and is coming off an 8-0 victory over the Gamecocks in the 2003 CWS opener for both teams last Friday, June 13.Stanford has lost all four games versus Cal State Fullerton this season. Prior to Sunday's 6-5 loss in a CWS winners' bracket game, the Cardinal was swept by the Titans in a three-game non-conference set in the Southland from January 31 - February 2 (L, 3-7; L, 2-10; L, 2-8).Sunday's 6-5 loss to Cal State Fullerton snapped a four-game Cardinal win streak over the Titans in postseason action. Stanford defeated Cal State Fullerton the last time they met in postseason action with a 3-2, 13-inning victory in a Regional opener at Stanford on May 31, 2002. Stanford had also won the last three meetings between the teams at the College World Series, claiming a pair of victories on June 10 and 13, 2001 (W, 5-2, 10 inn; W, 4-1), as well as a 9-2 victory in the CWS on June 12, 1999. Cal State Fullerton's last postseason victory over Stanford came with a 6-5 victory over Stanford at the CWS on June 3, 1995. Stanford leads the all-time series, 39-33.Stanford had its season-long 10-game win streak snapped with Sunday's 6-5 loss to Cal State Fullerton but has still won 19 of its last 21 games overall.Stanford fell in its second game in the College World Series for the second straight year after winning six consecutive games to open postseason play. Last year, Stanford began the postseason 6-0 before falling 8-7 to eventual national champion Texas in a CWS winners' bracket game on June 17, 2002. The Cardinal then stayed alive with a 5-3 win over Notre Dame (June 18, 2002) before being eliminated by Texas, 6-5 (June 20, 2002).Stanford had its six-game win streak versus ranked opponents snapped with Sunday's 6-5 loss to #2 Cal State Fullerton.Stanford fell to 109-52 (.677) all-time in NCAA postseason play and 34-25 (.576) in CWS action.Stanford has outscored its opponents 63-23 in postseason action this year. The Cardinal is outhitting opponents .332 to .232 and has a 3.19 ERA, while opponents have put up an 8.25 ERA.Stanford remains three victories shy of recording its fourth 50-win season in the last five years.Mark Romanczuk (6.1 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO) suffered his first collegiate loss to fall to 12-1. Romanczuk was bidding to become just the second player in Stanford history to finish a season unbeaten with eight or more decisions.Sam Fuld (1-4, HR, RBI) picked up his 19th career College World Series hit with a third inning homer to move up to a tie for fourth on the all-time CWS hit list and just four shy of the CWS career record of 23 set by Keith Moreland of Texas from 1973-75. Fuld, the only Stanford player to have been named twice to an All-CWS team (2001, '02), now has a career .452 CWS batting average (19-42).Carlos Quentin stroked his 24th double of the season in the fifth inning to move into a tie for second place on the Stanford's single double listRyan Garko's updated season average stands at .411 after going 0-for-2 with a pair of walks. Garko is attempting to become just the sixth Stanford player in school history to hit over .400 in a season and the first since David McCarty batted .420 in 1991.Chris Carter hit his fifth career postseason homer with a solo homer in the fourth inning.Jonny Ash (2-4) was the only Stanford player with more than one hit and leads the Cardinal with a .556 batting average (5-9) in the first two games of the 2003 CWS. Ash is a career .455 (10-22) hitter in CWS action and has a .408 (29-71) career postseason batting average.Matt Manship made his CWS debut with 1.2 innings of hitless relief.