April 22, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - Jeff Gilmore pitched his first complete game of the season and the third of his career to lead No. 24 Stanford (22-14, 5-5 Pac-10) to a 2-1 victory over Washington (24-15, 4-6 Pac-10) in the opener of a three-game Pac-10 series at Sunken Diamond on Friday evening. Gilmore (6-1) allowed just four hits and struck out a career-high nine without walking a batter to outduel Husky starter Tim Lincecum (6-5), who took the loss despite giving up just two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out 11 batters in a complete game effort of his own.
"It's a heightened awareness to pitch in a game like this," said Gilmore, who was making his first start ever in the team's No. 1 starter role. "I had to keep the team close against one of the best pitchers in the Pac-10."
"This was a great college baseball game where both guys pitched very well," contributed Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "It was hard for either team to score."
Stanford trailed 1-0 until scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth inning. Chris Lewis led off the inning with a single but was stranded on first base until Jed Lowrie drew a two-out walk to give Stanford runners on first and second. John Mayberry, Jr. then came through with an RBI double to rightcenter to drive in Lewis. Lowrie also barreled around third base on the play and scored the eventual game-winning run when Washington catcher Joey Dunn dropped the ball while trying to tag Lowrie at the plate on a relay throw from Husky shortstop Brent Lillibridge that would have nailed Lowrie.
"I really didn't know what happened and just kind of assumed I was out, but I heard everyone yelling," Lowrie explained about the play where he beat Dunn back to the plate after the ball had been dropped."It was huge opportunity for us," said Mayberry about his key two-out double. "I was just trying to put the ball play and see what happened from there."
Washington scored its only run in the top of the sixth to break up a scoreless tie through the first five innings when Lillibridge blooped a two-out double just out of the reach of a sliding Cardinal centerfielder Jim Rapoport and scored when Zach Clem followed with an RBI single between short and third.
Clem (2-4, RBI) was the only player for either team with more than one hit in a game that featured only four hits by each club and lasted just two hours and 12 minutes. Neither club had a hit until both came up with one in the fourth inning. Only seven runners were stranded in the game as Stanford left four on base and Washington stranded three.
Stanford's victory on Friday moved the Cardinal into sole possession of fifth-place in the Pac-10. Arizona leads the league with a 10-2 conference record. Oregon State, Arizona State and USC are all tied for second two games behind the Wildcats with identical 7-3 conference marks after all three teams won on Friday. Stanford's 5-5 record is good for fifth, followed by California (6-7), Washington (4-6), UCLA (0-7) and Washington State (0-10).
Stanford and Washington continue the three-game series on Saturday and Sunday with start times scheduled each day for 1 pm, PT. Stanford is scheduled to pitch LHP Mark Romanczuk (5-4, 4.98) on Saturday against Washington RHP Kyle Parker (6-4, 4.50). The Huskies have named RHP Matt Kasser (3-3, 5.36) as their probable starter for Sunday's finale, while Stanford has yet to announce a probable pitcher.
Friday night's game was televised by FOX Sports Net and will be shown on a tape-delayed basis on FOX Sports Bay Area this Sunday (11 am, PT) and Monday (12 pm, PT).
STANFORD NOTES
Jeff Gilmore (9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 9 SO) pitched his first complete game of the season and the third of his career, allowing career game-lows of one run and four hits, while striking out a career-high nine
Jim Rapoport had his career-high and the team's longest hit streak of the season snapped at 13 games by going 0-for-4
John Mayberry, Jr. now has the team's longest current hit streak at five games
Stanford played errorless baseball for the 19th time in 36 games this season, maintaining a .980 fielding percentage that leads the Pac-10 and is .003 points higher than the school record .977 fielding percentage posted by the 2001 club
Stanford came from behind to win this season for the 10th time in its 22 victories
Stanford has now won nine of the 10 games it has played at Sunken Diamond versus Washington since the Pac-10 North and South Divisions merged in 1999
Stanford's victory was its fourth in a row at Sunken Diamond, where the Cardinal has posted a 56-12 record in its last 68 contests
The game time of 2:12 marked the second-shortest game of the season played by Stanford