May 13, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - No. 7 Stanford (36-14) extended its win streak to a season-high eight games with a 10-1 victory over Saint Mary's (18-33-1) in a non-conference game at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday. Ryan Garko (2-2, 2B, 4 RBI) drove in four runs to raise his team-leading total to 72 and Cardinal starter Mark Jecmen (1-0) picked up his first collegiate victory, pitching 3.0 scoreless innings and scattering three hits with a season-high four strikeouts. Stanford scored five times in its first two turns at the plate and never trailed in the contest. The victory was Stanford's 15th in a row over the Gaels dating back to 1994.
Brian Hall (3-5, 2B, 2 RBI) and Sam Fuld (2-4, 2B, RBI) also had multiple-hit games for the Cardinal. Stanford stroked six doubles to tie a season high as Jed Lowrie, Chris Carter and Donny Lucy all added two-baggers. Fuld and Lowrie both extended their current hit streaks to eight games.
Six Stanford relievers - Drew Ehrlich (2 SO), Jonny Dyer (2 SO), Billy Paganetti (1 H, 1 SO), Ryan McCally (1H), Kodiak Quick (1 BB) and Matt Manship (1 BB, 2 SO) - tossed a scoreless inning each as the Cardinal held Saint Mary's to just five hits.
"We wanted to get a lot of our pitchers some work tonight," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "We pitched and played a very solid game, and it was nice for (Mark) Jecmen to get his first career win."
"It means a lot to me to get my first college win," added Jecmen. "It felt really good to help the team out tonight."
Saint Mary's did not have a player with more than one hit and Bryan Byrne drove in the Gaels' only run with an RBI single to score Delaney Gallagher, who had doubled with two outs, in the top of the third inning.
Stanford started its scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Hall walked with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Garko. Danny Putnam reached on a fielders choice before scoring on an RBI double by Lowrie to give the Cardinal an early 2-0 lead.
Stanford added three runs in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 5-0. Lucy reached on the first of two errors by Saint Mary's shortstop Gilbert Gil to start the inning. The Cardinal loaded the bases with one out when Tobin Swope was hit by a pitch and Fuld singled before Hall drove in a pair of runs with a double. Garko finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
After Byrne's RBI double gave the Gaels a run in the top of the third, Stanford came up with three runs in the bottom of the fourth for an 8-1 advantage. John Mayberry, Jr. and Swope started the inning with back-to-back singles before Fuld doubled home Mayberry. Two batters later, Garko came through with a two-RBI double down the right field line to plate Swope and Fuld.
Stanford picked up the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Carter and Lucy led off the inning with back-to-back doubles for the first run and Lucy scored two batters later on a throwing error by Gil after a groundball hit by Swope.
Saint Mary's left eight runners on base, while the Cardinal stranded five.
Saint Mary's lost its seventh straight game and for the 11th time in its last 12 outings.Stanford improved its non-conference record to 20-9 and its record at Sunken Diamond to 19-9.Fuld's two hits increased his career total to 263, moving him into 10th place on Stanford's all-time list. His 49th career double in the fourth inning put him into a tie for 10th all-time on Stanford's career list.
Stanford closed to within four victories of its ninth consecutive 40-win season.
Stanford will resume Pac-10 action with its final conference series of the season versus UCLA this Friday-Sunday, May 16-18 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm). Friday night's series opener will be televised live by HDNet. Stanford (16-5 Pac-10) had its magic number for at least a share of its first Pac-10 regular season title since 2000 reduced to two on Tuesday when second place Arizona State (11-6 Pac-10) lost 6-1 at Oregon State. A combination of three Stanford wins and Arizona State losses would give the Cardinal its first outright league championship since 1999.
"We're getting better each game out," said Garko, who is now just one RBI shy of entering Stanford's single-season top 10 list in the category. "It seems to be a different player contributing in big ways each night, and that's what it's going to take to win it all. We're not playing our best right now, but we're getting a little bit better every game."