April 18, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Oregon State (17-18, 4-7 Pac-10) snapped a season-best seven-game win streak for No. 4 Stanford (25-11, 8-3 Pac-10) with an 8-7 victory over the Cardinal in a Pac-10 game on Friday at Sunken Diamond. The Beavers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings in a game the Cardinal never led. Stanford's Carlos Quentin (3-5, SB) did extend his career-high hit streak to 24 games and raised his season batting average to .420 with a three-hit game. First-place Stanford remained one game ahead of Arizona (7-4 Pac-10), a winner at Washington State on Friday, with the Pac-10 schedule a game shy of the halfway mark. Arizona State (6-5 Pac-10) and USC (6-5 Pac-10) fell into a third-place tie in the conference standings after losing to UCLA and California, respectively.
"We just couldn't quite catch up tonight," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess as his team nearly rallied for its biggest comeback of the season. "Oregon State bunched their hits together and beat us in the first couple of innings."
Andy Jarvis (3-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Tony Calderon (3-5, 3 RBI) each had three hits for the Beavers, while Seth Pietsch was 2-for-4 and scored three runs.
Jarvis' homer was a solo shot in the top of the eighth inning extended Oregon State's 7-6 lead into a two-run advantage, providing an insurance run that the Beavers would need when Stanford scored once in the bottom of the ninth before Oregon State reliever and winning pitcher Nathan Pendley (1-2) retired Tobin Swope on a fly out to right field to end the game.
Pendley earned his first victory at Oregon State as the Beavers' third pitcher, scattering one run and three hits with three strikeouts over the final 2.1 innings.
Danny Putnam (3-3, 2B, 4 RBI) drove in four runs and matched Quentin's three hits for the Cardinal, while Ryan Garko (2-3, 2B) and Brian Hall (2-5) each had a pair of hits. Garko also tied his career-high with four runs scored.
Stanford starter Ryan McCally (3-2) suffered the loss, allowing five runs and seven hits over 1.2 frames.
Oregon State put a run on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning when Pietsch and Aaron Mathews led off the frame with back-to-back singles and Pietsch scored on a one-out RBI-single by Calderon.
Oregon State scored five times in the second as a two-out, two-RBI double by Chris Biles capped the rally. Tony Richie had led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Kunda and scored on an when Mark Jackson connected for an RBI single for his first hit of the season. Pietsch followed with another single and Jarvis had a two-out RBI single to score Jackson and chase McCally. Calderon greeted Stanford reliever David O'Hagan with an RBI single to score Pietsch before Biles' two-RBI double plated Jarvis and Calderon.
Stanford answered back with three runs in the bottom of the third to cut Oregon State's lead to 6-3. Hall started the rally by beating out an infield single and Sam Fuld followed with a single to give the Cardinal runners on first and second with no outs. After Quentin was retired on a fly out to center field, Garko walked to load the bases. Donny Lucy drove home Hall with an RBI single to extend his hit streak to six games before a two-RBI single by Putnam scored Fuld and Garko.
Oregon State got one run back in the top of the fourth when Pietsch walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on a one-out single by Jarvis and scored on an RBI single from Calderon.
Stanford cut the margin to 7-5 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-RBI double by Putnam to score Quentin and Garko, who had singled and walked to lead off the inning.Stanford closed Oregon State's lead to 7-6 in the seventh but the Beavers turned a key double play in the inning to limit the damage. Quentin and Garko started the frame with back-to-back singles before Lucy hit into a 5-3 double play that left the Cardinal with only Garko on second and two outs. The left-handed Pendley came on in relief of Ty Kline after the righthander had thrown one pitch to Putnam and uncorked a pair of wild pitches to allow Garko to score before retiring John Mayberry, Jr. on a fly out to center field to end the inning.Jarvis' eighth inning one-out solo shot extended the Beavers' lead to 8-6.
Stanford put a pair of runners on base in the eighth when Hall singled and Fuld walked with two outs before Pendley got Quentin to foul out to Ritchie behind the plate.
Garko led off Stanford's ninth inning with a double and eventually scored on an RBI fielders choice by John Mayberry, Jr.
Quentin is hitting .479 (46-96) during his 24-game hit streak.
Swope had his career-high eight-game hit streak snapped with an 0-for-4 performance.
Stanford and Oregon State are scheduled to conclude their three-game series with a rubber game on Saturday (1 pm). Stanford needs a victory in the series finale extend its series win streak to eight, its home Pac-10 series win streak to 15 and its home overall series win streak to five.
Despite Friday's loss, Stanford has still won 21 of its last 27 games.
Oregon State won for third time in the last five meetings with Stanford dating back to last season.
Next week, Stanford will travel to Sacramento State for a makeup game on Tuesday, April 22 (2:30 pm), before hosting second-place Arizona for three key 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.