April 13, 2004
Updated Season Stats
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Stanford, Calif. - Sam Fuld scored twice for No. 2 Stanford (26-5) to tie the school's all-time record for runs scored during a 12-3 non-conference victory over Santa Clara (16-20) at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday. The Cardinal scored five times in the bottom of the first inning as Danny Putnam's three-run homer keyed the outburst. Jed Lowrie (3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and John Hester (3-5, 3 RBI) added three hits and three RBI each for the Cardinal with Lowrie blasting a two-run shot in the second inning for his team-leading 10th long ball of the season. Brian Hall singled in the second inning to extend his career-high hit streak and the longest by a Stanford player this season to 16 games, while also stealing his team-leading ninth base.
"A lot of me scoring runs is due to the great lineups and run producers we have had during my career at Stanford," said Fuld, who is now tied with Mark Davis (1983-86) for the school's all-time runs scored lead with 244. "But, it is my mindset as a leadoff hitter to try to get on base as much as possible and score as many runs as I can."
"Sam Fuld has been one of our key players throughout his career, and he's worked hard for this," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
Stanford has won 21 of its last 22 games at home and is 12-1 this season at Sunken Diamond.Matt Leva -- the first of five Cardinal pitchers that combined on a six-hitter -- picked up the victory to improve to 3-0. Leva allowed two runs and two hits with one strike out, earning the victory as the pitcher of record in Stanford's predetermined pitching rotation. Greg Reynolds (3.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO), Mark Jecmen (2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 SO), Kodiak Quick (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB) and David O'Hagan (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) pitched in relief for the Cardinal.
Santa Clara starter Kellan McConnell (3-5) took the loss, allowing seven runs on five hits and five walks with one strikeout over the first 2.0 innings. Andrew Slorp (2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO), Patrick McBride (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO), Thomas Van Buskirk (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO) and Anthony Rea (2.0 IP, 1 H, 4 SO) saw action in relief for Santa Clara.
Nathan Faulkner (2-4, HR, 2 RBI) had a two-run homer for Santa Clara in the second inning and was the only Bronco with multiple hits or RBI.
Fuld began Stanford's big first inning by drawing a leadoff walk and Lowrie walked with out before Putnam's homer. John Mayberry, Jr. was then hit by a pitch to restart the rally before a single by Chris Carter and a walk to Chris Minaker reloaded the bases for a two-RBI single by Hester.
"It felt to get in the game today and carry over what I've been doing in practice," said Hester, who was making his second career start and first this season. "I'm pretty excited about it."
Crosta led off the top of the second inning preceding Faulkner's home run to get two runs back but the Cardinal immediately answered in its half of the second when Ash drew a leadoff walk and Lowrie followed with his two-run homer.
Santa Clara scored once in the third when Reynolds walked the bases loaded by issuing three consecutive free passes with one out to Ryan Chiarelli, Michael Thompson and Will Thompson before a sacrifice fly by Nic Crosta brought home Chiarelli with the final Bronco run of the game.
Stanford scored three runs in the fourth. Rapoport led off the frame with a walk and Carter walked with one out before Chris Minaker singled home Rapoport with the first run of the inning. Hester followed with an RBI single to score Carter and Minaker completed Stanford's scoring in the inning by coming home on a wild pitch by Slorp.
Stanford came up with two more runs in the sixth to complete the scoring. Hester started a two-out rally with a single up the middle, moved to second when Fuld was hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI single up the middle from Jonny Ash. Lowrie then doubled home Fuld with his 244th and school-record tying run to complete the game's scoring.
Stanford's John Mayberry, Jr. had just one plate appearance and no official at bats (0-0, HBP) as his nine-game hit streak remained intact, while Fuld and Lowrie each increased their current hit streaks to seven games.
Stanford stranded 11 runners, while the Broncos left eight. Stanford made the only error of the game and turned the only double play of the contest.
In addition to equaling the school's all-time runs scored record, Fuld is among several other of Stanford's career lists as he is now ranked third in hits (324) and at bats (951), tied for third in triples (16), tied for sixth in doubles (58) and seventh in games played (231).
The Cardinal continued its domination of opponents this year, winning by six or more runs for the 12th time this season and by three or more runs on the 22nd occasion. Stanford has more than doubled the run output of its opponents (283-137) and is averaging 9.1 runs per contest. Stanford scored in double digits for the 15th time this season and the fifth time in its last seven games, while also outhitting Santa Clara by a count of 13-6 to record its 24th double-digit hit game of the campaign and its seventh in a row to raise its team batting average to a season-high .321.
Stanford also continued its home run surge with its two long balls and has now gone deep 29 times in the last 13 games and leads the Pac-10 for the season with 49 homers.
"We have power and we're capable offensively," said Marquess. "We got a couple of big ones early in the game today."
Stanford now has a 49-9 record in its last 58 contests dating back to last season.
The Cardinal continues its current six-game homestand with its first Pac-10 home series of the season against California this Friday-Sunday, April 16-18 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT). The first game of the California series will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by Fox Sports Net and shown on Saturday, April 17 (3 pm, PT). Stanford will conclude the homestand with single games versus Saint Mary's (Tuesday, April 20, 6 pm, PT) and Sacramento State (Friday, April 23, 6 pm, PT) next week.
Tickets are available for all 2004 regular season Stanford Baseball home games online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.