May 6, 2005
Berkeley, Calif. - No. 24 Stanford (27-15, 8-5 Pac-10) won for the seventh time in the last eight games with a 7-5 victory at California (29-21, 9-10 Pac-10) in the opener of a three-game Pac-10 series at Evans Diamond on Friday. The Cardinal, who won its fourth straight Pac-10 contest to move within 3.0 games of first-place Arizona, jumped out to a 7-0 lead before California scored five unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh. Jeff Gilmore (8-1) pitched the first 7.0 innings to earn the win, while Matt Manship held the Golden Bears scoreless over the final 2.0 frames to pick up his third save of the season.
"The difference in how we've played lately is our pitching," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess, who moved into a tie for 15th-place on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches with his 1217 collegiate victory.
"We've known all year that we've had a talented pitching staff that could put it all together," added Manship, about a Stanford staff that has now gone 28.0 innings without giving up an earned run. "We've had a few bumps in the road, but we know that we should and can put up these types of performances."
Stanford also hit three long home runs early in the contest as John Hester and Michael Taylor blasted back-to-back shots over the left field wall in the second before Adam Sorgi (2-4, HR, 2 RBI) hit a two-run jack over the rightfield wall in the third.
Gilmore (7.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) retired the first 13 batters he faced until Josh Satin's fly ball down the right field line turned into a double when Taylor misplayed the ball. Gilmore got out of the inning and tossed a scoreless sixth until California tallied five unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh to snap Stanford's season-long scoreless string of innings at 25.0.
"Jeff Gilmore has been phenomenal of late," said Marquess about his new No. 1 starter that has allowed just one earned run in 19.0 innings since assuming the role on April 22.
"I was relying on the command of two pitches (fastball and changeup) today," analyzed Gilmore. "I wasn't able to take the ball out of play today by striking out many hitters, but I was able to fill up the strike zone consistently with command of my pitches to make it difficult for the hitters."
"When you have a big lead, it makes throwing strikes all that much more imperative," added Gilmore. "The last thing you want to do is walk hitters. If they're going to beat you, you want to make them hit the ball."
Manship (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) retired six of the seven batters he faced after entering the game to being the eighth frame.
"Matt Manship came on in the last two innings and also did a great job," said Marquess.
"I embrace coming into a spot like this any time," said Manship, who recorded his 15th career save to move into a tie for fourth on Stanford's all-time list. "It definitely helps being a veteran and having pitched in situations like this before."
Jim Rapoport (2-5, 2B) was the only Cardinal other than Sorgi with more than one hit.
Brett Munster (2-3, RBI) and Garrett Bussiere (2-4, RBI) had two hits each for the Golden Bears, while Allen Craig doubled and drove in a pair of runs.
California starter Adam Gold (6-6) took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks with just one strikeout over the first 3.1 frames. Golden Bear relievers Nick Tess (3.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO), Aaron Swick (1.0 IP), Travis Talbott (0.2 IP, 1 H) and Matt Swanson (0.1 IP, 1 SO) held Stanford to just one unearned run and two hits over the final 5.2 frames.
Stanford started the scoring in the top of the first when Rapoport doubled down the left field line to lead off the game, moved to third on a groundout by Sorgi and scored on the Pac-10 leading 10th sacrifice fly of the campaign by Jed Lowrie.
Stanford added two more runs on the back-to-back homers by Hester and Taylor to lead off the second.
The Cardinal extended its lead to 5-0 in the fifth when Rapoport singled to lead off the inning and Sorgi followed with his homer over the right field wall to extend his career-high hit streak to nine in a row.
Stanford came up with another run in the fourth when Brendan Domaracki singled with one out, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Chris Lewis.
The Cardinal finished its scoring with an unearned run in the seventh when Lowrie tripled off the glove of a sprinting Golden Bears' centerfielder Brennan Boesch and scored two batters later when California third baseman Matt Einspahr failed to field a two-out grounder by Hester.
Stanford committed all three of its season-high-tying three errors in the five-run Golden Bear seventh. Boesch, who singled with one out, scored the first Golden Bear run when he came around all the way from first base when Sorgi threw the ball away on James Holder's two-out grounder to the Cardinal third baseman. Bussiere was credited with an RBI infield single on his slow roller on the next play before advancing to second when Sorgi made his second consecutive throwing error in an attempt to get Bussiere at first. Munster followed with an RBI single to drive in Bussiere with the third Golden Bear run. The inning was then extended for the second time when pinch-hitter Travis Howell grounded a ball to Minaker, who had trouble fielding the ball cleanly before his throw to Lowrie covering second. Munster was safe when Lowrie was called for coming off the bag early in an attempt to have the throw beat Munster and Minaker was charged with an error. Craig made the Cardinal pay again when he doubled to the rightcenter field gap to score Munster and Howell but the inning finally ended when Craig was thrown out at third base trying to stretch the double into a triple on a Taylor-Lowrie-Sorgi relay.
The Golden Bears got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth when Bussiere singled with two outs but Manship retired Munster on a fly ball to Rapoport in center to end the game.
Stanford and California continue the three-game series on Saturday and Sunday with the first pitch scheduled each day for 1 pm, PT. Stanford is scheduled to start LHP Mark Romanczuk (5-4, 4.70) versus California RHP Eric Dworkis (5-5, 3.68) on Saturday. California has announced RHP Michael Cooper (3-2, 3.42) as its probable starter for Sunday, while Stanford has yet to name a probable starter.
Stanford concludes its current season-long six-game swing away from Sunken Diamond with a non-conference game at Santa Clara on Tuesday, May 10 (6 pm, PT). The Cardinal returns home for a three-game Pac-10 series against UCLA from Friday-Sunday, May 13-15 (6, 1, 1 pm, PT).
STANFORD NOTES
Stanford has won seven of its last eight games overall
Stanford has won three in a row on the road, moving its record away from Sunken Diamond to 9-8 to mark the first time this season the Cardinal has had a record better than .500 road record
The five runs allowed by Stanford in the bottom of the seventh inning equaled the second biggest inning of the season against the Cardinal
Stanford's pitching staff has not allowed an earned in its last 28.0 innings and had gone 25.0 innings without allowing a run before the five unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh
Jeff Gilmore has not allowed an earned run in his last 13.0 innings
Stanford has won 19 of its last 20 games against California (the Cardinal had won 18 straight over the Golden Bears before California broke the streak with a 10-4 win over Stanford in the previous meeting between the teams on March 6, 2005)
Stanford's pitching staff has lowered its ERA to 3.85 with its current string of 28.0 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run as the Cardinal is attempting to record a team ERA under 4.00 for the fifth time in the last seven seasons
Stanford's season-high-tying three errors lowered its fielding percentage that leads the nation to .978, which is .001 points higher than the school record .977 fielding percentage posted by the 2001 club
Stanford's three homers were one shy of the team's season-high four hit versus San Jose State on April 19
Adam Sorgi extended his career-high hit streak to nine games, the second longest by a Stanford player this season
Adam Sorgi's two RBI gives him nine RBI in his last three contests and 13 during his nine-game hit streak
Matt Manship recorded the 15th save of his career to move into a tie for fourth-place on Stanford's all-time list
The back-to-back homers hit by John Hester and Michael Taylor to lead off the Cardinal second marked the first time Stanford has hit back-to-back homers in 2005
Stanford improved to 3-0 in May, a month in which the Cardinal has posted a 79-18 (.814) record since the Pac-10 North and South Divisions merged in 1999
Stanford head coach Mark Marquess moved into a tie for 15th-place on the all-time win list for Division I coaches with his 1217th career victory, equaling the number posted in 39 season by Al Ogletree at Texas Pan-American
Stanford improved its record in games decided by two-runs or less to 8-12 this season