April 26, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - No. 4 Stanford (28-12, 10-4 Pac-10) scored four times in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete a 10-9 comeback victory over Arizona (29-16, 8-6 Pac-10) and retain first-place in the Pac-10, while evening a three-game conference series before 2591 fans at Sunken Diamond on Saturday. Sam Fuld (2-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) drove in a season-high four runs and hit a key two-out, two-RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to give Stanford its first lead since the Cardinal jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Stanford is 1.5 games ahead of No. 11 Arizona State (40-9, 8-5 Pac-10) pending the result of the Sun Devils' home game versus Washington State on Saturday evening and two games in front of Arizona.
"I was really proud of the way we hung in the game today and came up with some big hits," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "Every time Arizona scored, we were always able to answer by scoring in our half of the inning."
"It seemed like it was going to be a slugfest from the beginning," added Fuld. "I knew we had a great chance even when we were down three runs late in the game."
Carlos Quentin (3-5, HR, 2 RBI) homered and drove in a pair of runs one day after his career-high 26-game hit streak was snapped to raise his season batting average to .431, one percentage point above Tom Williams' school record of .430 in 1971. Jonny Dyer (2-1) picked up the victory by retiring the only batter he faced in the top of the eighth and Matt Manship pitched a perfect ninth inning to record his team-leading fifth save of the year and his second of the week.
"Matt Manship did a great job to close today's game," said Marquess. "He's done a great job for us all year and has turned into our closer over the last month."
Ryan Garko also hit his team-leading 10th homer for the Cardinal in the third inning, a two-run shot that gave him his team-leading 51st and 52nd RBI of the season.
Arizona's Brian Anderson (4-5, 3B, HR, 5 RBI) hit an inside-the-park grandslam in the top of the third inning and Moises Duran went deep for the second time in the series with a two-run blast in the top of the eighth.
Stanford trailed 9-6 before its four-run eighth inning. Garko walked to lead off the frame and moved to third base when Arizona reliever Wes Zlotoff threw the ball away trying to start a potential double play on a comebacker hit by Danny Putnam. Lowrie followed with an RBI single to score Garko with Stanford's first run of the inning before Brian Pemble relieved Zlotoff. Pinch-hitter Donny Lucy greeted Pemble with an RBI single to score Putnam and cut Arizona's lead to 9-8. A sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Chris Minaker moved the runners to second and third before Swope was walked intentionally to load the bases for Fuld, who came through with his two-out, two-RBI double to score Lowrie and Lucy with the tying and eventual game-winning runs.
Pemble (2-3), the third of four Arizona pitchers, was charged with the loss by being responsible for Stanford's tenth run.
Lowrie (2-4, RBI) added two hits for the Cardinal, while Arizona's Trevor Crowe was 2-for-5 with a double for the Wildcats.
Stanford started the scoring in the bottom of the first when Brian Hall singled with one out and Quentin followed with a deep shot over the left field wall for his sixth homer of the season.
All four Arizona runs in the top of the third came on Anderson's inside-the-park homer, his 12th roundtripper of the season. Jordan Brown started the rally with a one-out single and Brad Boyer followed with another single to give the Wildcats runners on first and second with one out. After Crowe flied out to right field, Duran drew a walk to load the bases. Anderson then launched a ball deep off the fence in leftcenter field that Fuld attempt to catch on the run at the wall. The ball bounced back off the fence and by Fuld into the leftcenter field gap. Leftfielder Danny Putnam raced over to pick up the ball but a relay throw from the shortstop Swope was up the line a little and Anderson slid safely into home.
Stanford answered back by scoring twice in the bottom of third on Garko's two-run shot off the scoreboard in left field. Quentin had kept the inning alive when he beat out a two-out infield single.
The score remained tied 4-4 until Arizona picked up a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning off Cardinal reliever David O'Hagan. Crowe started the rally with a one-out double, Duran walked and Anderson's RBI single gave the Wildcats a 5-4 lead. O'Hagan walked Jeff Van Houten to load the bases before being relieved by Kodiak Quick, who recorded the second out of the inning on an RBI groundout by Richard Mercado before retiring Derek Decater to get the Cardinal out of the jam.
Stanford again responded in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the score at 6-6 when Fuld homered for the second time this season, a two-run blast over the center field wall that also scored John Mayberry, Jr., who had led off the inning with a single.
Arizona regained a 9-6 lead with three runs in the top of the eighth, scoring on a wild pitch and Duran's two-out, two-run homer deep over the left field fence. Anderson followed Duran's homer with a triple but was left stranded at third base when Dyer came on to retire Van Houten on a foul out to Mayberry at first base.
Arizona stranded eight runners, while the Cardinal left five on base.
Stanford starter and Pac-10 win leader Mark Romanczuk remained a perfect 8-0, taking a no-decision after allowing four runs and six hits in the first 5.0 innings.
Lucy improved to 6-for-8 this season as a pinch-hitter.
Stanford and Arizona are scheduled to conclude their three-game series with a rubber game on Sunday (1:00 pm). The Cardinal needs a victory to extend a trio of series win streaks as Stanford has won eight straight series overall and in Pac-10 action, as well as 15 consecutive Pac-10 home series. Stanford has also won 10 of its last 12 games overall.
Stanford is scheduled to pitch RHP Ryan McCally (3-2, 4.96) versus Arizona LHP Joe Little (4-3, 4.55) on Sunday.