Feb. 27, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - No. 13 Stanford (9-6) dropped its first home game of the season and was denied a sweep of No. 22 USC (5-2) when the Trojans managed to take the finale of a three-game non-conference series at Sunken Diamond on Sunday. USC scored the first eight runs of the game before the Cardinal avoided being shutout by scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth. Stanford outhit the Trojans, 12-10, but left a season-high 13 runners on base.
Brett Bannister (2-0) picked up the win by keeping the Cardinal scoreless through the first 5.0 innings, giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out four. Michael Friedman (2.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER) and Paul Koss (1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) finished the game on the hill for the Trojans.
Jeff Clement (2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI), Darin Vieira (2-3, 2B, RBI), Daniel Perales (2-3) and Cyle Hankerd (2-4, 2 RBI) had two hits each for the Trojans.
Stanford had two hits each from Chris Minaker (2-5, 2B), John Mayberry, Jr. (2-5) and John Hester (2-5), while Ryan Seawell drove in both Cardinal runs.
USC got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning when Blake Sharpe walked with one out, moved all the way to third base on a pair of wild pitches from Gallagher and scored on the first of Clements' two doubles.
The Trojans picked up another run when Hankerd singled home Clement with one out in the third. Clement was hit by a pitch to start the inning before moving to second on Gallagher's third wild pitch of the game and third on a single from Billy Hart.
USC broke the contest open by scoring four times in the fourth. Leva walked Hector Estrella to start the rally before issuing another free pass to Sharpe two batters later to give the Trojans runners on first and second base with one out. Clement's second double of the game plated Estrella to make the score 3-0 in favor of USC before Hart was intentionally walked to load the bases. Vieira came on to pinch-hit for Roberto Lopez and hit a line drive that short-hopped Cardinal second baseman Jed Lowrie to go for an RBI infield single. Hankerd then squeezed home Clement and was credited with an RBI bunt single on the play when nobody covered first base. Baron Frost's sacrifice fly scored Hart with the final run of the frame.
The Trojans picked up a pair of unearned runs in the seventh when Cardinal rightfielder Michael Taylor dropped Matt Cusick's two-out fly ball, allowing Perales and Estrella to score. Perales had started a two-out rally with an infield single before Estrella was hit by a pitch to keep the inning alive.
Stanford scored twice in the eighth inning to avoid being shutout for the first time since Santa Clara blanked the Cardinal by a score of 2-0 on April 29, 2003. Mayberry led off the frame with his first hit of the series and Hester followed with a one-out single two batters later before the runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch. Seawell plated both runners when he singled up the middle before Friedman retired Jim Rapoport and Koss came on to strike out Taylor to end the uprising.
Stanford starter Nolan Gallagher (0-2) suffered the loss, allowing a pair of runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Matt Leva (2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO), Greg Reynolds (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB), Matt Manship (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) and Jeff Stimpson (1.0 IP, 1 H) also pitched for Stanford.
The Cardinal pitching staff combined to walk seven batters and hit three more in the contest.
"You can't give a quality team like USC that many baserunners," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "It just makes it to easy for them. Hopefully, we'll get better with that."
Stanford will host California (9-4) in a three-game non-conference series at Sunken Diamond next Friday-Sunday, March 4-6 (5 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT). The Golden Bears extended their win streak to eight games after completing a three-game sweep of Saint Mary's on Sunday.
STANFORD NOTES
Stanford is still 8-1 at home this season despite Sunday's loss and has a 46-7 record in its last 53 contests at Sunken Diamond
Stanford did not homer in the entire USC three-game series after homering in 11 of its first 12 games of the season
The Trojans snapped a four-game losing skid to the Cardinal
Randy Molina had his first collegiate hit with a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning
Jeff Stimpson made his first appearance of the season on the mound
Stanford left a season-high 13 runners on base