Jan. 30, 2005
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score | Notes
Stanford, Calif. - No. 6 Stanford (3-0) won both ends of a doubleheader over Fresno State (0-3) at Sunken Diamond on Sunday by scores of 7-0 and 8-4 to complete a three-game season-opening sweep of the Bulldogs. Jed Lowrie (3-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI) hit a pair of two-run homers to lead the Cardinal in the opener, while Jeff Gilmore and Nolan Gallagher combined on a five-hitter as the duo struck out nine batters without issuing a walk. In the nightcap, Blake Holler (1-0) picked up the victory by allowing just one run and three hits with a career-high-tying five strikeouts over 4.2 innings of relief. John Hester (3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, SB) tied a career-high with three hits, while Jim Rapoport (2-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Adam Sorgi both hit their first career homers to lead the Cardinal offense in the second game.
The doubleheader sweep was the fifth in a row for Stanford dating back to 2001 as the Cardinal also extended its series win streak at Sunken Diamond to 11 in a row. In addition, Stanford has won five straight games overall versus Fresno State and six in a row against the Bulldogs on The Farm. Stanford has also swept its opening series in each of the past three seasons.
"We had a great weekend," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "We didn't make an error in the series, pitched well and got some timely hitting."
Lowrie was 2-for-5 in the nightcap to finish the doubleheader 5-for-8 with a pair of homers and five RBI, while Chris Lewis (2-4, RBI) also had his first two-hit game of the season and Chris Minaker stole a pair of bases for the first time in his career.
In first game, Gilmore (1-0) picked up the win by striking out six in 6.0 innings of two-hit work before Gallagher came on to earn his first collegiate save, striking out three and scattering three hits over the final 3.0 frames. Gilmore retired 18 of 20 batters, including his final seven in a row. Gallagher got nine of the 12 hitters he faced.
John Mayberry, Jr. (2-3) and Minaker (2-4, RBI) also had a pair of hits for the Cardinal in the opener with Minaker scoring three runs.Fresno State's David Gomez (3-4, 3 2B) had three doubles to lead the Bulldogs offense in the first contest.
Ryan Penn (0-1) suffered the loss in his first career start for the Bulldogs in the opener, allowing three runs and five hits with three strikeouts over the first 5.0 frames.
In the nightcap, Will Thomas (2-2) and Nick Moresi (2-5, RBI) had two hits each for the Bulldogs, who equaled Stanford's 11 hits but made five errors that led to three critical unearned runs.
Fresno State starter Matt Garza (0-1) took the loss in the nightcap, giving up five runs (three earned) and seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts over the first 4.0 frames.
Stanford struck immediately in the opener when Lowrie popped his first home run of the game in the bottom of the first inning, a two-run shot over the right field wall that also scored Minaker, who had singled just in front of him.
The Cardinal added another run in the bottom of the third to take a 3-0 lead, loading the bases with no outs when Minaker and Mayberry were hit by pitches to sandwich a single by Lowrie. Hester brought home Minaker with an RBI groundout but the Bulldogs got out of the inning without any further damage when Penn retired Rapoport on a groundout and struck out Michael Taylor.
Lowrie struck again in the Cardinal seventh when he drilled his second two-run shot over the right field fence to cap a three-run Stanford rally and give the Cardinal a 6-0 lead. Minaker, who had an RBI single to plate Sorgi earlier in the inning, also scored on Lowrie's second homer. Ben Summerhays had left off the inning with a single but after advancing to second on a balk by Chuck Fick, pinch-runner Brendan Domaracki was picked off second base by Bulldog catcher Ryan Overland. Sorgi then walked to restart the rally, moved to second on groundout by Lewis before scoring on Minaker's RBI single.
Stanford closed out the first game's scoring in the eighth on an RBI single by Sorgi that plated Rapoport, who had led off the inning with a walk, moved to second when Taylor reached on an error by Fresno State shortstop Christian Vitters and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Domaracki.
In the nightcap, Fresno State snapped a 17-inning scoreless stretch in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead when Kent Sakamoto singled home DeAndre Miller with two outs. Miller had walked to lead off the game, moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a single by Vitters.
Stanford came right back to score four times in the bottom of the first inning after two were out and would never trail again. Minaker walked, stole second and moved to third when Miller misplayed Overland's attempt to throw Minaker out. Mayberry then came through with a clutch two-out single to plate Minaker and tie the game at 1-1. Hester followed with an RBI double to score Minaker and Rapoport got Stanford's third straight run-scoring hit when he doubled home Hester. The Cardinal picked up a final unearned run when Bulldog rightfielder Will Thomas dropped a hard-hit line drive by Summerhays to allow Rapoport to score.
Fresno State chipped away with single runs in the top of the second and fourth frames to cut the Cardinal lead to 4-3. In the second, Thomas and Overland had back-to-back singles to start the inning and moved to third on a balk by Cardinal starter Greg Reynolds (3.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, career-high 5 SO) before Chase Moore brought Thomas home with an RBI groundout. Moore then started the Bulldog fourth with a double, moved to second on a single by Moresi that chased Reynolds and scored when Vitters managed an RBI groundout against Holler.
Stanford came up with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth when Lewis singled home Domaracki, who had reached to lead off the inning on a throwing error by the second baseman Miller, advanced to second on a passed ball and third on a fly out from Sorgi.
The Cardinal added another unearned tally in the sixth. Sakamoto dropped the back end of a potential inning double play ball hit by Minaker to keep the inning going, before Minaker stole second and scored on an RBI single from Lowrie.
Rapoport and Sorgi both hit their solo homers in the seventh to finish Stanford's scoring.
Fresno State scored the final run of the game in the eighth on a two-out single by Moresi to score Chris Huston, who had singled to lead off the frame, moved to second on a groundout by Miller and third on a wild pitch.
"Our staff had a tremendous effort all weekend," summarized Holler. "We really didn't get hit hard the entire series."
Stanford will travel to defending national champion and third-ranked Cal State Fullerton for the Titans' season-opening series next Friday-Sunday, February 4-6 (7 pm, 6 pm, 1 pm, PT). The Cardinal swept Cal State Fullerton the last time the teams met to open the 2004 season at Sunken Diamond.
"Cal State Fullerton is a Top Five team and will be a great test for us," said Marquess. "We will see where we need to improve."
NOTES
Jim Rapoport and Adam Sorgi both hit their first career home runs in the nightcap with Rapoport also tying a career-high with two RBI
Jed Lowrie's two-homer game in the opener of the doubleheader is the second of his career (also at Santa Clara, March 24, 2004)
Jeff Gilmore combined on the third shutout of his career in the opener, the most by any active Stanford pitcher
John Hester (3-5) tied a career-high with his second three-hit game of the series in the nightcap
Stanford has now swept five consecutive doubleheaders since the Cardinal split a twinbill with UCLA on April 7, 2001
Stanford won its 11th straight series at Sunken Diamond and swept its opening series of the year for the third consecutive season
Stanford has now won five straight games over Fresno State and six in a row against the Bulldogs at Sunken Diamond
Stanford has won six consecutive series against the Bulldogs dating back to the last Fresno State series win when the Bulldogs took two-of-three at Sunken Diamond from January 29-31, 1999
Chris Minaker was 7-for-12 (.583) with nine runs scored and a pair of stolen bases in the series
Jed Lowrie hit three homers, drove in six runs and batted .500 (6-12) in the series with a 1.250 slugging percentage
Stanford did not make an error in the series, fielding all 106 of its defensive chances successfully
Stanford's pitching staff posted a stellar 1.67 ERA in the series
Nolan Gallagher (Game 1) and Erik Davis (Game 2) made their collegiate debuts for the Cardinal
Blake Holler tied a career-high with five strikeouts in the nightcap