April 16, 2005
Tempe, Ariz. - Arizona State (24-15, 5-3 Pac-10) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 6-5 victory over No. 14 Stanford (20-13, 4-4 Pac-10) on Saturday at Packard Stadium to take a 2-0 lead in a three-game set between the clubs. Joe Persichina drew a two-out bases loaded walk from Stanford reliever Nolan Gallagher to bring home Colin Curtis with the game-winning run. Travis Buck had tied the game earlier in the inning with a two-run homer off losing pitcher Blake Holler (6-2).
Rocky Laguna singled off Holler to start the ASU ninth inning before Buck blasted a two-run shot over the wall in rightcenter field to tie the game at 5-5 and send a crowd of 3337 into a frenzy. Holler retired the next two batters he faced before issuing a two-out walk to Curtis to restart the rally. Seth Dhaenens then narrowly beat Jed Lowrie's throw on a high chopper hit behind the second base bag for an infield single before Holler was replaced by Gallagher, who walked Joey Hooft to load the bases before Persichina drew the game-winning walk.
Buck (2-5, HR, 3 RBI) and Persichina had three RBI each for the Sun Devils, while Laguna (2-4, 2B) also had a pair of hits.
Reliever Ty Marotz (1-1) recorded his first victory of the season by holding the Cardinal scoreless in the ninth, striking out two.
John Mayberry, Jr. (2-3, 2B, RBI, SB), Jim Rapoport (2-4) and Chris Lewis (2-4, 2B, RBI) had two hits each for the Cardinal with Rapoport extending his career-high hit streak to 12 games.
Stanford starter Jeff Gilmore was on track to get his team-leading sixth win of the season before the ninth inning comeback by the Sun Devils. Gilmore limited Arizona State to three runs on just four hits despite a career-high five walks with a season-high-tying six strikeouts over the first 6.2 innings. Holler allowed an inherited runner to score in the seventh to shrink Stanford's lead to 4-3 but kept Stanford ahead when he struck out Curtis with the bases loaded to avoid further damage.
Arizona State took an early 2-0 lead in the contest with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning when Persichina tripled with two outs to score Jeff Larish and Dhaenens, who had drew two of the four walks by Gilmore in the inning earlier in the frame.
The Cardinal got a run back in the third when Rapoport led off with a single, moved to second on a groundout by Lewis and third when Arizona State starter Jason Urquidez (6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 8 SO) balked, before scoring on an RBI single by Brendan Domaracki.
Stanford tied the score at 2-2 in the sixth when Mayberry drilled a double off the wall in leftcenter to score Lowrie, who had been hit by Urquidez with two outs.
The Cardinal took the lead for the first time in the contest two more runs in the seventh. Michael Taylor, Rapoport and Lewis started the inning off with three consecutive singles as Taylor scored the go-ahead run. After an error by Arizona State reliever Brent Bordes (1.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB) on a sacrifice bunt from pinch-hitter Ryan Seawell allowed everyone to be safe and load the bases, Rapoport scored the final run of the frame when Adam Sorgi grounded into a double play.
Arizona State cut the margin to 4-3 with its single run in the seventh. Laguna doubled off Gilmore with two outs to chase the Stanford starter before the Cardinal brought Holler in to face Buck for a lefty-lefty matchup. Buck came through with an RBI single to right field to score Laguna and Holler then walked Tuffy Gosewisch and Larish to load the bases before setting Curtis down looking with a beautiful pitch that painted the outside corner to end the inning.
Stanford picked up another run in the eighth to take a 5-3 advantage. Lowrie drew a leadoff walk and Mayberry was hit by a pitch before John Hester advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice. Taylor then chopped an RBI groundout to Dhaenens at second base to plate Lowrie.
The teams will conclude the series on Sunday (1:00 pm, MT/PT) with the Cardinal needing a victory to avoid being swept in a Pac-10 series for the first time since Arizona State won three in a row over Stanford on The Farm from April 11-13, 1997. Arizona State is scheduled to start RHP Pat Bresnehan (3-3, 4.22), while Stanford has not announced a probable pitcher for the contest.
The back-to-back losses in the first two games of the current series at Arizona State have dropped the two-time defending conference champion Cardinal into a tie for fifth-place in the Pac-10 standings. Arizona leads the league with a 9-2 conference record despite a 17-1 loss to second-place Oregon State (6-2) on Saturday to even a series between the conference's top two teams in Tucson. USC (6-3) and Arizona State (5-3) are third and fourth in the conference, while Stanford and Washington are tied for fifth with 4-4 conference marks. California (5-6), UCLA (0-6) and Washington State (0-9) round out the standings.
STANFORD NOTES
Jim Rapoport extended his career-high hit streak to 12 games, the longest by a Stanford player this season, and hit safely for the 18th time in his last 19 contests
Stanford was held to 10 or fewer hits for the fourth time in its last five games
Stanford played errorless baseball for the 15th time this season to maintain its .979 fielding percentage that is two points above the school record of .977 set by the 2001 club
Stanford played on television (AZ-TV) for the second time this year, falling to 0-2
The 10 walks issued by the Stanford pitching staff were the most this season
Stanford has had its string of four consecutive series victories over Arizona State snapped with losses in the first two games of the current series
Stanford lost for the first time this season when leading after eight innings as the Cardinal had been a perfect 18-0 in those games prior to Saturday's loss
Stanford needs a win in Sunday's series finale to avoid being swept in a Pac-10 series for the first time since Arizona State won three in a row over the Cardinal on The Farm from April 11-13, 1997, a span of 64 straight conference series