May 21, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - Chris Minaker's clutch two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Jim Rapoport with the game-winning run to deliver Stanford (31-20, 11-9 Pac-10) a dramatic 5-4 victory over No. 8 Arizona (35-17, 15-5 Pac-10) and even a three-game Pac-10 series Saturday at Sunken Diamond. Minaker's hard-hit grounder was out of the reach of a diving Wildcat third baseman Bryan Kervin and Rapoport raced home from second base to beat the throw home from Arizona leftfielder Trevor Crowe.
"We've had a tough time in close games this season, so it was nice to come up with a victory like this," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
Rapoport led off the bottom of the ninth with a single off losing pitcher Eric Berger (6-1), who took his first collegiate loss and was charged with the game-winning run on a pair of hits while walking one and striking out two. Arizona then brought Mark Melancon into the game and the Wildcats' ace reliever got pinch-hitter Ryan Seawell to pop-up on a sacrifice bunt attempt before striking out Chris Lewis for the second out. But Rapoport stole his team-leading 12th base of the season to get into scoring position and Adam Sorgi was intentionally walked in front of Minaker.
"I know it's a better matchup and they set up a force play, but it kind makes you think that they think they can get you out easily," laughed Minaker when asked about the intentional walk issued in front of him. "It's kind of nice to put it back on them. Emotions do come into play a little bit."
Chris Minaker's two-out RBI single in the ninth inning lifted Stanford to a dramatic 5-4 win over Arizona on Sunday |
Minaker, who had also given Stanford a 4-3 lead in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, extended his career-high hit streak to nine in a row with his game-winning hit.
Lewis (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, SB) hit a long two-run homer well up the light pole earlier in the fifth inning to tie the game at 3-3. Brendan Domaracki (2-3, RBI) also had two hits and drove in the other Cardinal run with a second inning single.
Nick Hundley (2-5, HR, RBI) and Jordan Brown accounted for three of Arizona's four runs by going deep. Hundley hit a solo shot to lead off the Arizona second and Brown's two-run shot followed a leadoff walk by Jeff Van Houten in the fourth. Brad Boyer brought in the other Arizona run with an RBI single that scored Kervin in the top of the seventh to knot the contest at 4-4.
Arizona, who lost for just the second time in its last 10 games, had a pair of chances to take the lead late in the game but Cardinal relievers held off the Wildcats on both occasions.
In the eighth, Hundley led off with a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Frey. Nolan Gallagher (0.2 IP, 2 SO) came on in relief of Blake Holler (1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB) and balked to allow the runners to move to second and third before striking out Jason Donald and Derek Decater to end the threat.
Matt Manship (0.0 IP, 2 BB) started the ninth for the Cardinal but issued a leadoff walk to Bryan Kervin and balked before intentionally walking Crowe. Boyer successfully sacrificed the runners to second and third after winning pitcher Greg Reynolds (2-2) relieved Manship and the Wildcats loaded the bases when Reynolds hit Van Houten before coming thru to strike out Brown and get Hundley to foul out to Cardinal catcher John Hester to end the inning.
"That's the spot that every pitcher dreams about being in," said Reynolds. "You just have to throw strikes and trust all your pitches.""Greg Reynolds did a great job getting two excellent hitters out in that spot," added Marquess.
"To win big spots in both the top and bottom of the ninth today did a lot for our confidence," offered Minaker.
Stanford starter Mark Romanczuk (6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) and Arizona starter Kevin Guyette (6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) both had no-decision outings.
Stanford's victory moved the Cardinal into a tie fourth-place in the Pac-10 standings with Arizona State (11-9 Pac-10), while second-place Arizona's loss allowed Oregon State (19-4 Pac-10) to clinch at least a share of the Pac-10 title after the Beavers came from behind to defeat USC by a score of 10-7 on Saturday. USC (12-8 Pac-10) is clinging onto third-place after dropping both games of its current series at Oregon State. Idle California (11-10 Pac-10) is in sixth-place, while Washington (9-11) is hoping to remain in the postseason hunt after taking the first two games of its current series versus Arizona State. UCLA (3-17 Pac-10) and Washington State (1-19 Pac-10) have split the first two contests of their current series with the Cougars picking up their first Pac-10 victory on Saturday.
Stanford will conclude its 2005 regular season home schedule and current seven-game homestand with Sunday's series finale (1:00 pm, PT) on Fan Appreciation/Senior Day. Arizona has named RHP Sean Rierson (3-2, 5.70) as its probable starting pitcher, while the Cardinal has announced RHP Matt Leva (4-2, 4.30).
STANFORD NOTES
Stanford maintained 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 by being errorless for the 23rd time in 51 games this season
Despite allowing 12 earned runs in the first two games of the series, Stanford's pitching staff still has a 3.76 season ERA as the Cardinal is looking to record an ERA under 4.00 for the fourth time in the last six campaigns
Chris Minaker extended his career-best hit streak to nine games with his ninth inning RBI single
John Mayberry, Jr. had his seven-game hit streak snapped one shy of his season-best
Stanford needs to win Sunday's rubber game to snap Arizona's two-series win streak over the Cardinal and extend its own Sunken Diamond series win streak to three
Greg Reynolds won his second game of the week as he also picked up the victory in last Tuesday's victory over Saint Mary's
Stanford's comeback win was its 13th of the season in 31 victories
Stanford played its 18th one-run game of the season, improving to 8-10 in those contests