May 3, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - John Mayberry, Jr. (5-6, HR, 6 RBI) set new career-highs with five hits and six RBI to lead No. 9 Stanford (29-14, 11-5 Pac-10) to a 22-10 victory over USC (25-20, 9-7 Pac-10) and extend its season-best road win streak to eight games in the delayed opener of a key three-game Pac-10 series at Dedeaux Field on Saturday. The victory moved Stanford into sole possession of first place in the Pac-10, one-half game of idle Arizona State (10-5 Pac-10).
Ryan Garko (4-6, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) also hit his team-leading 11th homer, tied a career-high with four hits and drove in three runs to increase his team-leading RBI total to 55 and tie his career-high from last year.
Stanford's 22 runs and 18 RBI were season-highs with the run total the most the Cardinal has scored since a seven-inning, 22-5 win over Oregon State on April 14, 2001.
"We had a great offensive day today and hopefully there will be some carryover into tomorrow," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
Stanford's season-high in runs came after the Cardinal was shutout for the first time in its previous game, a 2-0 loss to Santa Clara last Tuesday.
"You can't really figure it out," added Marquess when asked to explain the difference between the two games. "There's no rhyme or reason to it."
"You just have to put last Tuesday's game against Santa Clara behind you," added Garko. "It's always nice to start off a series versus USC with a win."
Stanford scored 16 runs in the final three innings to break open a game that had been tied 6-6 after six innings and posted the most runs ever by a USC opponent at Dedeaux Field. The old record was held by Arizona when the Wildcats scored 20 runs versus USC on April 18, 1982.
"The seventh inning was the turning point," continued Marquess about the team's five-run seventh that broke the 6-6 tie. "That gave us some breathing room and put us in pretty good shape."
Danny Putnam (3-3, 2B) continued his hot hitting for the Cardinal by extending his career-high hit streak to nine games and raising his season batting average to .391. Donny Lucy was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Jed Lowrie had a pair of career-highs with three RBI and three runs scored, and Tobin Swope added a pair of RBI.
Travis McAndrews (4-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI) led USC's 17-hit attack, tied for the most given up by the Cardinal pitching staff this season. Darin Vieira (3-5, 2 RBI) had a three-hit game for the Trojans, while Anthony Lunetta (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI) drove in three runs. Joey Metropoulos (2-4, RBI), Spencer Gordon (2-4, 2B) and Michael Moon (2-5, RBI) added two hits each for the Trojans.David O'Hagan (5-1) got credit for his fifth win of the season as the first of three Stanford relievers, scattering one run and three hits over 1.2 innings. Stanford starter John Hudgins (5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) picked up a no-decision in his shortest outing of the year.
USC's Josh Rummonds (4-3) was charged with the loss as the first of four USC pitchers out of the bullpen, giving up four runs and four hits in 1.1 innings. Trojan starter Anthony Reyes (5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2 HP) received a no-decision.
Stanford got on the scoreboard first, scoring three runs after two were out in the top of the second inning. Putnam singled with one out and moved to second on a groundout before scoring on an RBI double by Lucy that popped out of the glove of a diving McAndrews in center field. Mayberry, Jr. followed with a long two-run homer over the leftcenter field fence, his first long ball in just over two months since he went deep against USC on March 2 at Sunken Diamond.McAndrews' first solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the third put USC on the scoreboard and cut Stanford's lead to 3-1.
Stanford came up with two more runs in the fourth to increase its lead to 5-1. Sam Fuld led off the inning with a walk, moved to third on a single by Carlos Quentin and scored on an RBI single by Garko. Quentin scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Lowrie, his team-leading fourth of the year.
USC cut Stanford's four-run lead in half by responding with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Vieria started the rally with a leadoff single and moved to second when Billy Hart drew a walk. A sacrifice bunt by Moon moved the runners to second and third before Lunetta drove in both with a two-RBI single.
The Trojans added another run in the bottom of the fourth when McAndrews singled with one out, moved to third on a double by Gordon and scored on an RBI single by Vieria.
Garko's solo homer in the top of the sixth inning over the scoreboard in rightcenter field gave Stanford a 6-4 lead.
"I just got good barrel on it and the ball carries well to right field," said Garko.
USC scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 6-6. Moon started the inning with a single and scored when Lunetta doubled to rightcenter field. A one-out RBI single by Metropoulos later in the frame would score Lunetta.
Stanford picked up five runs in the top of the seventh inning to regain an 11-6 lead. Ash led off with a double and scored on a one-out RBI double by Garko, the first of five consecutive hits. Putnam followed with an RBI double to plate Garko and an RBI single from Lowrie scored Putnam. Lucy followed with another single before Mayberry plated Lowrie with an RBI single and Swope capped the rally with a sacrifice fly to score Lucy.
USC picked up one run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 11-7. Hart doubled to lead off the inning and scored on an RBI single by Moon. Stanford picked up a pair of outs to slow the Trojans rally on a beautiful double play when Lowrie ranged far to his left on a ground ball between first and second and threw to Swope covering second before he fired to Mayberry at first. The Trojans restarted the rally when Jeff Clement was hit by a pitch and Metropoulos walked before Ryan McCally came on to end the threat by retiring Jon Brewster on a fly ball to Quentin in right field.
Stanford exploded for seven runs on just two hits in the top of the eighth inning, taking advantage of five walks, three errors, a passed ball and a wild pitch. The seven runs tied the most scored by the Cardinal in a single inning this season. Ash drew a walk to start the rally and moved to second on a wild pitch before he was thrown out when Ryan Garko's deep high fly ball bounced off the fence for a long single. Garko moved to second on a passed ball before Putnam walked to load the bases with one out. Lowrie finally brought home the first run of the inning with a fielders choice RBI before the Cardinal scored their final six runs of the frame after two were out. Lowrie stole second and Lucy walked to load the bases for Mayberry, who came through with a two-RBI single. Swope walked and Lucy scored when Fuld reached on an error by Lunetta at shortstop to keep the inning alive before the final three runs came across the plate when a line drive to center field by Ash glanced off the glove of McAndrews the Trojans' third error of the inning.
USC scored a run in the bottom of the eighth on McAndrews' second homer, a solo shot over the rightcenter field wall.
Stanford finished its scoring with a four-run ninth. Putnam started the rally with a one-out single, moved to second when Lowrie was hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Chris Carter. Mayberry followed with an RBI single to score Lowrie before Swope's RBI groundout scored Carter and Fuld finished the rally with an RBI single to plate Mayberry.USC picked up a pair of ninth inning runs. Metropoulos led off the inning with a single, moved to third on a double by Brewster and scored on an RBI groundout from McAndrews. Brewster scored the final run of the game on an RBI single by Vieira.
The game featured six hit batsmen, three on each side.
USC stranded nine runners, while the Cardinal left seven on base.
Stanford and USC are scheduled to conclude the series with a doubleheader on Sunday (12 pm), necessary after Friday night's series opener was rained out. Stanford LHP Mark Romanczuk (8-0, 3.88) and USC RHP Brian Bannister (5-4, 4.38) are scheduled to square off in the first game. Stanford has not announced a starting pitcher for game two, while USC is scheduled to go with LHP Bobby Paschal (3-4, 3.79).
Stanford continues a season-long seven-game homestand next week with a non-conference game at San Jose State (Tuesday, May 6, 7 pm) before resuming Pac-10 action with a three-game series at California (Friday-Sunday, May 9-11, 2:30 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm).