May 7, 2005
Berkeley, Calif. - No. 24 Stanford (27-16, 8-6 Pac-10) dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker at California (30-21, 10-10 Pac-10) when pinch-hitter Travis Howell's bases squeeze bunt with no outs in the bottom of the 11th inning brought home Chris Errecart with the game-winning run in a Pac-10 contest Saturday at Evans Diamond. The Golden Bears evened the series with the victory heading into Sunday's finale (1 pm, PT).
Errecart led off the bottom of the 11th with a double down the left field line off losing pitcher Nolan Gallagher (1-4), who had got the Cardinal out of a bases loaded one-out jam in the previous inning. Stanford then issued an intentional walk to California cleanup hitter Brennan Boesch before the Golden Bears pulled off a double steal to advance the runners to second and third. The Cardinal then walked Josh Satin intentionally, loading the bases with no outs. Blake Holler entered the contest in relief of Gallagher and Howell successfully laid down his 1-1 pitch with Errecart sprinting across the plate to give the Golden Bears the victory. Howell with officially credited with an RBI bunt single on the play.
The two teams played scoreless baseball through nine innings as Stanford's Mark Romanczuk and California's Eric Dworkis matched each one another with nine consecutive shutout frames each.
"This was a great college baseball game but unfortunately we came out on the short end," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "Both starting pitchers were fantastic."
"I probably had the best command that I've had all season," added Romanczuk, who was credited with no-decision and extended his consecutive scoreless inning string to 13 in a row before being charged with California's 10th inning run.
"This a tough pill to swallow, but it is baseball and that's they way it goes," continued Romanczuk. "The great part about baseball is that we have a chance to come back tomorrow, get after it and take the series."
Stanford finally broke through for a run in the top of the 10th to take a brief 1-0 advantage before the Golden Bears answered with a run in the bottom of the 10th to extend the contest another additional frame.
Stanford scored in the 10th inning when Michael Taylor and Chris Minaker hit back-to-back doubles with two outs.
California responded with its run in the bottom of the 10th when Satin led off with a single that chased Romanczuk (9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO). Pinch-hitter Robert Nesbitt then moved Satin to second base with a sacrifice bunt off Cardinal reliever Matt Manship (0.1 IP, 3 H), who then allowed three consecutive singles before giving way to Gallagher. Garrett Bussiere came up with the first hit off Manship with a line drive single to leftcenter but Satin was held at third after having to wait to see that the ball would fall safely in front of Cardinal leftfielder Chris Lewis. Jeremy Burchett then came through with a game-tying RBI single when he poked a line drive into left field to plate Satin. Matt Einspahr then grounded a single through the left side but Bussiere was held at third to load the bases. Gallagher then came on in relief to strikeout out pinch-hitter Mike Van Winden and Allen Craig, leaving the bases full of Golden Bears.
Einspahr (2-4) and Errecart (2-5, 2B, SB) combined for half of California's eight hits.
California reliever Travis Talbott (5-1) picked up the win in relief of Dworkis (10.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 SO) by holding the Cardinal scoreless on one hit and striking out two in the top of the 11th.
Taylor (2-4, 2B) and Adam Sorgi (2-5) had four of Stanford's seven knocks with Sorgi extending his career-high hit streak to 10 games.
Neither team had many scoring chances in the first nine innings. A two-out single by Taylor in the bottom of the fifth gave the Cardinal its first baserunner after Dworkis had set down 14 in a row to open the game. Taylor got no further than first base when Dworkis got Minaker to fly out to Craig in leftfield to end the inning.
Stanford's best chance to score prior to its run in the 10th came when Brendan Domaracki doubled to lead off the sixth and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Lewis before Dworkis struck out Jim Rapoport and got Sorgi to fly out to Boesch in centerfield to end the threat.
California didn't put a runner in scoring position off Romanczuk until the eighth as the Cardinal ended the Golden Bears' second, third and fourth innings with double plays. A two-out walk by Romanczuk and an error by Minaker on a grounder to the Cardinal shortstop gave the Golden Bears a pair of baserunners in the eighth before Romanczuk struck out Brett Munster to end the uprising.
Stanford and California conclude the three-game series with the rubber game on Sunday (1 pm, PT). California is scheduled to start RHP Michael Cooper (3-2, 3.42) on the mound, while Stanford has yet to announce a probable starter.
Stanford concludes its current season-long six-game swing away from Sunken Diamond with a non-conference contest at Santa Clara on Tuesday, May 10 (6 pm, PT) in the recently opened Stephen Schott Stadium. The Cardinal next returns home to Sunken Diamond for a three-game Pac-10 series against UCLA from Friday-Sunday, May 13-15 (6, 1, 1 pm, PT). The UCLA series begins a seven-game homestand that will conclude the team's 2005 regular season home schedule. The Cardinal will also host 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.
Stanford will host several promotions during its upcoming seven-game homestand, beginning with Youth Baseball Day and a post-game Poster-Autograph Session on Sunday, May 15. The club's final home series versus 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 had won seven of its last eight games and three in a row on the road before Saturday's loss
Stanford dropped to 6-8 in one-run games and 8-13 in contests decided by two or less runs
Stanford's pitching staff tossed 37.0 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run until California picked up one in the 10th frame
Mark Romanczuk had pitched 14.0 consecutive scoreless frames before he was charged with the run California scored in the 10th
Stanford needs a victory in Sunday's series finale to extend its string of series wins over the Golden Bears to eight and its run of season series wins over California to four
Stanford had won its last eight meetings in Berkeley against the Golden Bears before Saturday's loss
Stanford's pitching staff has lowered its ERA to 3.80 by allowing just two earned runs in its last 39.0 innings as the Cardinal is attempting to record a team ERA under 4.00 for the fifth time in the last seven seasons
With one error, Stanford maintained its .978 fielding percentage that leads the nation and is .001 point higher than the school record .977 fielding percentage posted by the 2001 club
Adam Sorgi extended his career-high hit streak to 10 games, the second longest by a Stanford player this season, with a single in the ninth inning and then singled again in the 11th
John Hester extended his hit streak to seven games, one shy of his career-high, with a seventh inning single
Mark Romanczuk tied the longest outing of his career by going 9.0 innings for the sixth time at Stanford
John Mayberry, Jr. recorded a season-high 16 putouts that were one shy of his career-best
Stanford tied its season-best by turning three double plays for the fourth time this year