May 18, 2004
Updated Season Stats
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Stanford, Calif. - No. 1 Stanford (40-10) extended its school record string of consecutive 40-win seasons to ten and its home win streak to 16 with a 3-1 victory over San Francisco (26-30) to snap a two-game losing skid in a non-conference game on Tuesday at Sunken Diamond. Four Stanford pitchers limited the Dons to one run and four hits with starter Greg Reynolds (4-1) earning the victory and Matt Manship picking up his third save of the season. John Hester was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a stolen base to lead the Cardinal offense. Jed Lowrie (2-2, SB) and Chris Lewis (2-3) also had two-hit games.
"I try to make the most of my opportunities and help the team when I can," said Hester, who was making just his fifth start of the season.
Reynolds allowed one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts over the first 4.0 innings and was credited with the win due to a predetermined pitching rotation with three or more pitchers scheduled. Jecmen struck out three while facing the minimum six batters during his 2.0 inning stint. Duda also faced just six batters with one strikeout. Manship allowed only a single in the ninth inning and also recorded a strikeout.
The four Stanford pitchers combined to retire 15 consecutive San Francisco hitters between an RBI single by Stefan Gartrell with two outs in the fourth and a two-out ninth inning single by Chris Genung.
"Usually if you feel good after a game you have pitched well," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "Tonight's game was well pitched, and we also made some great defensive plays."
"Everyone did a great job and pitched really well," added Hester. "It builds momentum for this weekend (against USC)."
Stanford's stellar pitching performance came one game after the Cardinal had allowed 36 earned runs and posted a 12.96 ERA in a three-game series at Arizona the previous three days.
"It was very important for us to get back on track today, both as a team and as a pitching staff," said Manship.
"I was pretty excited and there was a lot of adrenaline pumping," added Duda about pitching for the second consecutive week after making his collegiate debut last Tuesday against Santa Clara.
Armand Gaerlan (2-4) had half of the Dons' four hits to extend his school record hit streak to 24 games and also scored the team's only run.
San Francisco starter Scott Cousins (0-1) suffered the loss in his first collegiate start, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts over the first 4.0 innings. Nick Pereira (2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 SO) and T.J. Franco (1.2 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO) also saw action out of the bullpen for the Dons.
The Cardinal finished the mid-week portion of its regular season schedule with a perfect 9-0 record in those games.
Stanford returns to Pac-10 action by hosting three-game series against USC (Friday-Sunday, May 21-23, 6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PDT) and No. 19 Arizona State (Friday-Sunday, May 28-30, 6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PDT) to conclude its regular season schedule. Stanford is 12-6 in Pac-10 action and enters its final six conference contests one-half game behind league leader Washington (14-7 Pac-10). Stanford's six Pac-10 losses are still one fewer than the Huskies and two less than third-place Arizona State and UCLA (both 10-8 in the Pac-10).
Stanford is now 23-1 at Sunken Diamond this season and has won 32 of its last 33 games on The Farm dating back to a nine-game home win streak to end last season.
The Cardinal got all the scoring it would need Tuesday with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, taking advantage of two defense miscues by the Dons. Hall reached on an error by San Francisco third baseman Andrew Smith to get the rally going and Chris Carter walked before the runners moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Lewis. Hall then scored on a passed ball by San Francisco catcher Nick Cirbo before Hester came through with an RBI single to plate Carter.
San Francisco cut the Cardinal lead in half with its only run of the game in the top of the fourth when Gaerlan led off with a single up the middle, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out RBI single by Gartrell.
Stanford scored an insurance run in the sixth when Lewis started a two-out rally by rolling a ball just inside the third base line that Smith watched stay fair for an infield hit. Lewis then moved to second on a balk and scored when Hester drove a 3-0 pitch into the rightcenter field gap for a clutch two-out RBI double.
Danny Putnam extended his hit streak to 10 with a third inning single, while Sam Fuld (0-3) had his nine-game hit streak come to an end.
Stanford left eight runners on base, while the Dons stranded four.
The Cardinal played errorless baseball for the 20th time this season to maintain its .975 fielding percentage, which is just two percentage points shy of the school record .977 mark set by the 2001 club. San Francisco committed two errors but also turned both double plays in the game.
Stanford will host its annual Youth Baseball Day this Sunday versus USC, while the Sixth Annual Town & Country Village Fireworks Show is scheduled to take place after the series-opener against Arizona State.
Tickets are available for all 2004 regular season Stanford Baseball home games online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.