May 14, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - UCLA (13-34, 2-15 Pac-10) held off a late rally by No. 21 Stanford (28-19, 9-8 Pac-10) in a 4-3 victory over the Cardinal to even a three-game Pac-10 series at Sunken Diamond. Stanford put the tying run at third base and the winning run on second in the bottom of the ninth inning before Bruin reliever Brian Schroeder recorded the final two outs for his first save of the season. UCLA starter Bryan Beck (1-9) limited the Cardinal to three runs (two earned) over the first 8.1 innings to earn the win.
Stanford's ninth inning comeback attempt started with one out when UCLA first baseman Brett McMillan made his second error in as many innings on Ben Summerhays' grounder. Chris Lewis then singled on a hit and run play to move pinch-runner Cameron Matthews over to third before stealing second base to give the Cardinal runners on second and third with one out. Schroeder, who had relieved Beck after Lewis' single, struck out Jim Rapoport for the second out before getting Adam Sorgi to pop out to UCLA shortstop Tommy Lansdon to end the contest.
UCLA trailed 2-1 until striking for three unearned runs in the top of the seventh with Chris Jensen's bases loaded two-RBI single with two outs snapping a 2-2 tie. The Bruin rally started when Mike Metzger reached on a one-out throwing error by Sorgi after hitting a grounder to the Cardinal third baseman. Lansdon then singled up the middle and Eric Taylor was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Will Penniall singled home Metzger with the first Bruin run of the inning. Nolan Gallagher relieved Cardinal starter and losing pitcher Mark Romanczuk (5-5) and struck out Josh Roenicke before allowing Jensen's clutch single.
Stanford got one run back in the eighth on an RBI infield single by John Hester that scored Sorgi to cut the Bruin lead to 4-3 but Beck retired Michael Taylor on a groundout with the bases loaded to hold onto the slim lead. Stanford's eighth inning rally started when Sorgi reached on the first of McMillan's two errors in the last two innings. Jed Lowrie then drew a walk before John Mayberry, Jr. had an infield single to load the bases for Hester.
Mayberry, Jr. (2-4, HR, RBI) and Lewis (2-4, SB) had two hits each for the Cardinal with Mayberry accounting for the first Cardinal run on a two-out solo homer over the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth.Stanford's other run came in the bottom of the sixth when Lowrie put the Cardinal ahead 2-1 with a clutch two-out RBI single to score Rapoport, who had singled with one out and moved to second on a groundout by Sorgi.
UCLA picked up its only other score outside of its three-run seventh in the top of the second when Lansdon singled home Chris Denove, who had reached on a swinging bunt single to leadoff the inning before moving to second base on a wild pitch and third when Romanczuk hit Metzger to load the bases. Stanford was able to turn one of its season-high-tying three double plays with the bases to get out of the inning without any further damage.
Lansdon (3-4, RBI), Chris Denove (2-4) and Penniall (2-5, 2B) each had multiple-hit games for the Bruins.
Beck scattered eight hits in his first winning performance of the season, while walking two and striking out four. He retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced without giving up a hit before Mayberry's fourth inning blast.
"We're just not hitting the ball very well at all right now," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "We just need to try to win every game we can from here on out."
Saturday's loss kept the Cardinal in fifth-place in the Pac-10 standings. Third-ranked Oregon State leads the conference with a 16-4 Pac-10 record after defeating Washington for the second consecutive game on Saturday. Arizona (12-3, 1.5 GB) is currently in second-place, followed by Arizona State (10-5, 3.5 GB), USC (11-6, 3.5 GB), Stanford (9-8, 5.5 GB), California (11-10, 5.5 GB), Washington (7-10, 7.5 GB), UCLA (2-15, 12.5 GB) and Washington State (0-17, 14.5 GB). No. 24 USC was a 15-3 winner in Saturday afternoon's other Pac-10 game, while No. 8 Arizona begins a three-game series at No. 18 Arizona State on Saturday night (6:30 pm, MT/PT).
Stanford and UCLA will play the rubber game of their current series on Sunday (1 pm, PT). UCLA is scheduled to start RHP Brant Rustich (2-4, 5.40), while the Cardinal has yet to name its probable starter.Stanford is in the midst of a seven-game homestand that will conclude its 2005 regular season home schedule. The Cardinal will also play Saint Mary's (Tuesday, May 17, 6 pm, PT) and Arizona (Friday-Sunday, May 20-22, 6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT) on the homestand during which the Cardinal will host several promotions beginning Youth Baseball Day and a post-game Poster-Autograph Session after Sunday's series finale versus the Bruins. The club's final home series against Arizona will have a promotional event each day, starting with the popular Town & Country Fireworks Show after the series-opener on Friday, May 20. The annual Team Appreciation BBQ will take place after Saturday's contest with Fan Appreciation/Senior Day slated for Sunday.
STANFORD NOTES
Stanford has now lost four of its last five games
Stanford has dropped 15 of its 19 losses this season by either one or two runs
Stanford's one error allowed the Cardinal to maintain a .978 fielding percentage that ranks second in the nation and is one percentage point better than the school record of .977 set by the 2001 club
Stanford's pitching staff lowered its ERA to 3.80 as the Cardinal is attempting to record a team ERA under 4.00 for the fourth time in the last six seasons