Feb. 27, 2004
Berkeley, Calif. - Jed Lowrie (3-3, 3 3B, 4 RBI) hit the first three triples of his career, drove in a career-high-tying four runs and reached base in all six at bats to lead No. 1 Stanford (11-2) to a 12-9 victory over California (7-7) in the opener of a three-game series at Evans Diamond on Friday. Jonny Ash (3-5, 2 RBI) also had a three-hit day for the Cardinal, while Donny Lucy (2-5, HR, RBI) and Brian Hall (1-4, HR, RBI) homered. Jim Rapoport added a pair of RBI.
The victory was Stanford's 11th in a row over California dating back to the 2002 campaign and its 17th in its last 18 road games overall. The contest last three hours and 26 minutes, featuring five lead changes and two ties. Stanford has now come from behind in eight of its 11 victories this season.
"The main thing is that we stay calm," said Lowrie of his team's penchant for comebacks. "Our players are mentally strong, and we have bunch of guys that know what they are supposed to do when they are at the plate. Even when we're behind, we feel like we have the firepower to come back."
"I don't think I've ever done that before," added Lowrie of his three triples.
"I haven't seen that before," chimed in 28th-year Stanford head coach Mark Marquess about Lowrie's three-triple day. "It's very hard to do because you have to hit the ball in the right places."
Stanford reliever Jonny Dyer (1-0) picked up his first victory of the season by limiting the Golden Bears to one run on four hits with one strikeout over 2.1 innings. David O'Hagan came on in the eighth and pitched 2.0 scoreless one-hit innings with a strikeout to earn his team-leading third save. The Cardinal relief staff has now recorded seven saves in the team's first 11 victories.
California's James Holder (4-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) had a game-high four hits, while Chris Grossman (3-5, 2B, 2 RBI) posted a three-hit game. David Weiner (2-3, 2B) and Chris Errecart (2-5, RBI) added two hits each for the Golden Bears, who outhit the Cardinal by a 14-12 count.
Matt Swanson (0-1), the fourth of six California pitchers, took the loss by allowing three runs and three hits with two strikeouts over 2.0 innings.
Stanford trailed 8-5 before posting back-to-back three-run innings in the sixth and seventh.The Cardinal started its comeback by tying the contest with a three-run sixth off three Golden Bear relievers. The rally started when Lucy reached on an error by California second baseman David Nicholson. California reliever Alex Trafton then walked Adam Sorgi and Sam Fuld back-to-back to load the bases before being removed from the game. Ash greeted new Golden Bear reliever Cameron Johnson with a two-RBI single to cut the California lead to 8-7. The Cardinal reloaded the bases when Johnson issued a free pass to Lowrie before being lifted in favor of Matt Swanson. Danny Putnam's RBI fielders choice scored Fuld to tie the score at 8-8. Swanson ended the Cardinal inning by forcing John Mayberry, Jr. into a fielders choice that resulted in Ash being thrown out at the plate and inducing Rapoport into a ground out.
Stanford broke the deadlock with three more runs after two were out in the top of the seventh, taking an 11-8 advantage. Hall walked to lead off the rally and moved to second base on Lucy's ground out before Swanson struck out pinch-hitter Chris Carter for the second out, but Fuld came through with a clutch two-out single up the middle to score Hall and put the Cardinal ahead to stay. Ash beat out his second infield single of the game to keep the rally alive before Lowrie came up with his third triple of the contest to plate Fuld and Ash.
California picked up one run off Dyer in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Cardinal lead to 11-9 when Justin Nelson, Brian Horwitz and Holder put together three consecutive singles to score Nelson before Dyer induced Weiner into an inning-ending double play.
Stanford added an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Lucy led off the inning with a solo homer over the leftcenter field fence.
The Golden Bears were able to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning when O'Hagan walked Nelson to lead off the frame and gave up a two-out double to Weiner before striking out pinch-hitter Jordan Karnofsky to wrap up the victory.
"Fortunately, I've been put in a position this year where just about every game I've pitched in has been competitive," said O'Hagan. "I really don't want to let any of my teammates down. I like being out there when there's something on the line."
Stanford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Hall lifted a high fly ball over the left field wall for his second home of the season to lead off the top of the second inning.
California answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-1 advantage. Grossman started the rally with a single and Nelson walked before Horwitz moved the runners over to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Holder then singled home Grossman and Nelson scored on a check swing RBI ground out by Garrett Bussiere.
Stanford regained a 3-2 lead with a pair of runs in the top of third. Ash drew a leadoff walk before he scored on Lowrie's first career triple. California nearly got out of the inning when Golden Bear starter Mike Padgett (ND, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO) struck out Putnam and retired Mayberry on a short fly ball to Horwitz in right field before Rapoport beat out a two-out infield single to plate Ash and record the first RBI of his career.
California tied the contest 3-3 with a run in its half of the third when Stanford starter Mark Romanczuk (ND, 4.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) walked Allen Craig to lead off the inning before giving up a two-out RBI double by Grossman that scored Craig on a close play at the plate.
Stanford went back ahead, 5-3, with two runs in the top of the fifth. Ash started the rally again by beating out an infield single deep in the hole between third base and shortstop before Lowrie tripled him home for the second time in the game with a line drive into the right field corner. Putnam walked to put Cardinal runners on first and third with no outs before Padgett retired Mayberry on a foul out to Holder at first base for the first out of the inning. Lowrie scored on an RBI ground out by Rapoport before getting out of the inning when Hall lined out to California shortstop Jeff Dragicevich.
The Golden Bears went back ahead 8-5 with a five-run bottom of the fifth, the biggest inning against Stanford this season. Craig walked to lead off the inning for his second consecutive at bat and Nicholson doubled to put Golden Bears on second and third base, extending his hit streak to 18 games dating back to last season. Errecart chased Romanczuk by singling home Craig for the first California run of the frame. Grossman greeted Stanford reliever Kodiak Quick with an RBI single up the middle to plate Nicholson. Errecart made the first out of the inning when he was thrown out at third base trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt as Grossman moved up to second on the play. Nelson then grounded out to Lowrie at second base for the second out as Grossman moved to third before scoring on a wild pitch to give California a 6-5 lead. Horwitz then walked to restart the rally and Holder blasted a long two-run homer over the left field wall to cap the inning.
Fuld moved up Stanford's career record book in three categories as he know ranks third in runs scored (224), fourth in hits (301) and eighth in at bats (869).
Lowrie extended his hit streak to a career-high-tying nine games and raised his team-high batting average to .457, while Ash has a current eight-game run and a .362 mark.
Stanford left 10 runners on base, while the Golden Bears stranded nine.
Stanford recorded its seventh errorless game of the campaign and has now won by three runs or more in 10 of its 11 victories this season.
Stanford and California continue their three-game non-conference series Saturday and Sunday with 1 pm starts scheduled each day. Stanford needs to win just one of the final two games in the series for its ninth consecutive series win and the 17th in its last 18 efforts.
Stanford is scheduled to play 14 of its next 17 games on the road and does not return to Sunken Diamond until hosting Cal Poly for a three-game set from March 26-28 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT). Tickets are available for all 2004 regular season Stanford Baseball home games online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.