April 23, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - No. 24 Stanford (23-14, 6-5 Pac-10) held off Washington (24-16, 4-7 Pac-10) for a 10-6 win on Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in a three-game Pac-10 set between the clubs at Sunken Diamond. John Mayberry, Jr. (3-4, 2B, RBI) led a 13-hit Stanford attack, while Chris Minaker (2-5, 2B, 3 RBI) drove in three runs for the Cardinal. Michael Taylor (2-3) and John Hester (2-4, 2B) also had two hits each for Stanford, while Adam Sorgi doubled and drove in a pair of runs.
Nolan Gallagher (1-3) picked up his first collegiate win after coming on in relief of starter Mark Romanczuk (4.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) and getting Stanford out of a fifth inning jam. Matt Manship (3.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER) recorded his second save of the season and the 14th of his career.
Washington made a season-high five errors in the contest.
"They give us a few extra outs, and we were able to take advantage of that," explained Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "We did a good job of coming up with some timely hitting."
Washington actually outhit the Cardinal in the contest, 14-13. Zach Clem (3-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Kiel Lillibridge (3-4, RBI) had three hits each for the Huskies, while Brent Lillibridge (2-4, 2B), Taylor Johnson (2-4, 3B) and Curt Rindal (2-5) added two-hit nights.
Stanford rallied from a 2-0 deficit, starting its 11 comeback win of the season and second in as many nights against the Huskies with back-to-back four-run innings in the fourth and fifth.
"It's the never say die attitude," commented Mayberry. "We never quit and always feel like we can come from behind if we need to."
Washington scored single runs in the second and third innings to take its early 2-0 lead.
Kyle Larsen singled with one out in the Husky second, moved to second when Romanczuk plucked Nick Batkoski and scored two batters later on an RBI single from Kiel Lillibridge.
Clem's solo homer to lead off the third made it 2-0 in favor of Washington.
Washington starter and losing pitcher Kyle Parker (6-5) kept the Cardinal off the scoreboard until Stanford came up with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Hester led off the inning with a double, moved to third on an infield single by Taylor and scored on an RBI single from Minaker to give the Cardinal its first run. Jim Rapoport came through three batters later with a clutch two-out RBI single to tie the game at 2-2 before Sorgi lined a two-RBI double down the right field line to give the Cardinal its first lead of the night at 4-2.
Romanczuk was removed from the contest after allowing a lead off double to Brent Lillibridge and walking Johnson to start the fifth. Gallagher came on to induce Clem into a 5-4-3 double play before striking out Matt Hague to end the inning.
"We called on Nolan Gallagher in a tough spot tonight, and he did a great job," offered Marquess.
Stanford tacked on another four runs in the fifth, taking advantage of two Husky errors and a balk in the inning. Mayberry beat out an infield single to start the rally and moved to second on a throwing error by Batkoski at third base on the play. Hester then drew a walk and the Cardinal loaded the bases on the next play when Parker (4.0 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO) failed to cleanly field Taylor's sacrifice bunt. Minaker was then credited with a two-RBI double when his hard hit liner to Brent Lillibridge bounced by the Washington shortstop. Brendan Domaracki beat out an infield single to reload the bases before Husky reliever Brandon McKerney (4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) balked in a run, which was followed by the ejection of Washington head coach Ken Knutson. Chris Lewis' RBI groundout brought Minaker home with the final run of the inning.
The teams traded runs in the sixth inning. Washington scored when Rindal singled, moved to third on a pair of grounders and came home on the first of two wild pitches by Gallagher. In the Cardinal sixth, Mayberry and Hester led off with back-to-back singles before Taylor reached on an error during his sacrifice bunt for the second time in as many at bats to load the bases. Mayberry then trotted home when Minaker grounded into a double play.
Washington came up with two runs in the seventh to cut the Cardinal lead to 9-5. Brent Lillibridge drew a leadoff walk to start the rally and Johnson followed with a single to give the Huskies runners on first and second with no outs. Gallagher (2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) then uncorked his second wild pitch of the game and Brent Lillibridge ended up scoring on an error by Cardinal second baseman Jed Lowrie when Hester's throw bounced off his glove as he tried to tag Johnson going from first to second on the back end of the play. Marquess then called on Manship, who recorded the first out of the inning by striking out Clem, then retired Hague on an RBI groundout and got Larsen two batters later on a fielders choice to limit the damage.
Stanford picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh when Lowrie reached on a fielding error by Larsen at first base and scored on a two-out RBI double from Mayberry.
Washington mounted a rally in the ninth inning but could never get the tying run closer than the on-deck circle before Manship shut the door. Johnson started the inning with a leadoff triple and scored on an RBI single from Clem. Hague then singled up the middle before Manship got Rindal on a fly out, struck out Larsen and picked off Hague for the final out of the game.
Stanford's victory maintained sole possession of fifth-place in the Pac-10 for the Cardinal. Arizona leads the league with a 10-2 conference record. Arizona State and USC are tied for second one and a half games behind the Wildcats with 8-3 conference marks, followed by Oregon State (7-3), Stanford (6-5), California (6-8), Washington (4-7), UCLA (0-8) and Washington State (0-10).
"It's very tough to get any win in the Pac-10, let alone sweep a conference series," said Marquess about Stanford's prospects of a sweep against the Huskies. "It will be very tough because Washington is an excellent team, and they will do everything they can not to get swept. But, it's also very important for us to get one, especially after being swept at Arizona State last weekend."
Stanford has announced RHP Matt Leva (1-1, 4.25) as its probable starter for Sunday series finale (1 pm, PT), while Washington is scheduled to start RHP Matt Kasser (3-3, 5.36).
STANFORD NOTES
John Mayberry, Jr. extended the team's longest current hit streak to six games and took over the team's season lead in hits (49)
Despite making one error, Stanford maintained 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 11th time in its 23 victories this season
Stanford has now won 10 of the 11 games it has played at Sunken Diamond versus Washington since the Pac-10 North and South Divisions merged in 1999 and wrapped up its fourth straight series win at Sunken Diamond over the Huskies in that span
Stanford's victory was its fifth in a row at Sunken Diamond, where the Cardinal has posted a 57-12 record in its last 69 contests
Stanford has now won three straight games overall after being swept at Arizona State last Friday-Sunday, one win shy of a pair of season-high-tying four-game win streaks posted by the Cardinal this season
Nolan Gallagher recorded the first collegiate win of his career
Matt Manship recorded his 14th career save to move into sole possession of sixth-place on Stanford's all-time list
Matt Manship was charged with his first run of the season in the ninth inning but still has an 0.51 ERA with just one run allowed in 17.2 innings of work
Due to weather conditions, the start time of Saturday's game was moved back from five hours from its original scheduled time of 1 pm, PT, marking the seventh time the Cardinal has had a contest postponed in a soggy 2005 season
FOX Sports Net televised Stanford's 2-1 victory over Washington in Friday series-opener on a tape-delayed basis. The game will air on FOX Sports Bay Area this Sunday (11 am, PT) and Monday (12 pm, PT).