April 15, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Brian Hall (2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI) doubled twice with two outs and drove in three runs to lead No. 4 Stanford (24-10) to its sixth straight win with a 4-2 non-conference victory over San Jose State (18-20) at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday. Stanford's six-game win streak equals a season-high. Stanford starter Mark Romanczuk (7-0) was credited with his seventh victory by tossing 2.0 scoreless innings as the first of five Stanford pitchers who allowed just two runs, five hits, one walk and one hit batsmen. Romanczuk leads the Cardinal and is tied for the Pac-10 lead with seven victories. David O'Hagan pitched the final 1.1 innings and picked up his third save after getting the Cardinal out of an eighth inning jam and retiring pinch-hitter Nick Guerra as the tying run for the final out of the game in the top of the ninth. Jonny Dyer had an impressive relief stint by retiring all nine batters he faced in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
"It felt good to come through in a couple of big spots and help the team out tonight," said Hall. "It's very satisfying and important to pick up the team when I have a chance. You have to really want to be the guy that comes up in big spots."
"All of our pitchers did a great job and made San Jose State earn what they got, and Brian Hall came up with a couple of clutch two-out doubles," added Stanford head coach. "It was a solid performance for our pitching staff, and I was pleased with our defense."
Stanford's errorless game was its first in the last five contests.
Hall's two-out, two-RBI double off San Jose starter and losing pitcher Matthew Winck (1-2) capped a three-run Cardinal bottom of the second. John Mayberry, Jr. also had an RBI single in the inning.
San Jose State got one run back in the top of the fourth inning when Aaron Bates hit a long two-out shot over the left field fence for his second home run of the season.
Stanford had just one runner reach base on a Sam Fuld fifth inning single between the third and sixth frame before Tobin Swope singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jonny Ash and scored on Hall's second two-out double of the game.San Jose State picked up a run in the top of the eighth to cut Stanford's lead to 4-2. David Pierson doubled down the first base line with two outs and scored on a bouncing ball RBI single up the middle by Anthony Contreras before O'Hagan came on to retire Nathan Corrick and end the inning.
The Spartans brought the tying run to the plate twice in the top of the ninth after Jordan Bergstrom drew a one-out walk but O'Hagan retired Bates and Guerra on a pair of foul outs.Stanford's Carlos Quentin extended his career-high hit streak to 22 games with a first inning double, while Ryan Garko's season-best 10-game hit streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 performance.
Quentin's updated batting average stands at .415 as he continues his quest to become the first Stanford player to hit .400 or better since David McCarty batted .420 in 1991.
Pierson (2-3, 2B) was the only San Jose State player with more than one hit. Three Spartan relievers limited the Cardinal to one run and three hits over the final 6.0 innings.
After sweeping its last four non-conference games, Stanford will return to Pac-10 action by hosting Oregon State in a three-game series this Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19 (6 pm, 6 pm, 1 pm, PT). The Cardinal (7-2 Pac-10) currently leads second-place Arizona State (6-3 Pac-10) by one game in the conference standings.
Next week, Stanford travels to Sacramento State for a non-conference game on Tuesday, April 22 (2:30 pm, PT) before hosting Arizona for three Pac-10 games Friday-Sunday, April 25-27 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT).
The Arizona game on April 25 will be the first Stanford Baseball game to be televised by the College Sports Television Network (CSTV), which made its debut earlier this month. Stanford's home game versus UCLA on Sunday, May 18, is also scheduled to be televised by CSTV.