May 13, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - John Hester doubled home John Mayberry, Jr. with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a dramatic three-run rally and lift No. 21 Stanford (28-18, 9-7 Pac-10) to a 3-2 victory over UCLA (12-34, 1-15 Pac-10) in the opener of a three-game Pac-10 series at Sunken Diamond on Friday. Jeff Gilmore (9-1) tossed his second complete game of the season and the fourth of his career to earn the victory, allowing just two runs on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts.
Jim Rapoport started the Cardinal ninth with a leadoff single and Jed Lowrie ended the shutout bid by eventual losing pitcher Hector Ambriz (2-5) two batters later when he doubled down the left field line to bring home Rapoport. John Mayberry, Jr. followed with an RBI single to score Lowrie and moved up to second base on an attempt to throw Lowrie out at the plate. After the Bruins got Michael Taylor to pop up, Ambriz intentionally walked Chris Minaker to set up Hester's game-winning hit.
"When someone is intentionally walked in front of you, you make it your mission to make them pay for it," said Hester. "To pull off a Pac-10 game like this is big for us."
"We've been struggling with the bat a lot lately, but we strung together a bunch of hits in the ninth and came up with a big win," added Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
UCLA went ahead 1-0 in the top of the fourth when Chris Jensen homered over the right field wall to extend his hit streak to 17 games.The Bruins added another run in the fifth to take a 2-0 lead when Chris Denove and Matt Sharp led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. UCLA had a chance to score more runs in the inning but failed to execute on a sacrifice bunt that turned into a fielders choice and popped out on another bunt attempt before eventually leaving runners stranded at first and third when Gilmore got Jensen to ground out to Lowrie at second to end the inning.
Stanford had baserunners off Ambriz (8.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) in the second, third and fourth innings before the UCLA starter retired 15 consecutive batters prior to the Cardinal ninth.
"Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and will give us a boost of confidence," added Mayberry about the comeback victory.
"This was one of those things that we haven't done that much this year, but we got it done tonight," contributed Lowrie.
Lowrie (2-4, 2B, RBI) was the only Stanford player with more than one hit, while Ambriz' 2-for-4 performance at the plate was the only multiple-hit game for the Bruins.
Friday's victory kept the Cardinal in fifth-place in the Pac-10 race. Oregon State leads the conference with a 15-4 Pac-10 record after defeating Washington by a score of 7-0 on Friday night. Arizona (12-3, 1.0 GB) is currently in second-place, followed by Arizona State (10-5, 3.0 GB), USC (10-6, 3.5 GB), Stanford (9-7, 4.5 GB), California (11-10, 5.0 GB), Washington (7-9, 6.5 GB), UCLA (1-15, 12.5 GB) and Washington State (0-16, 13.5 GB).
Stanford and UCLA continue the series with single games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, both beginning at 1 pm, PT. UCLA is scheduled to start RHP Bryan Beck (0-9, 5.87) on Saturday, while the Cardinal is slated to go with LHP Mark Romanczuk (5-4, 4.31). UCLA has announced RHP Brant Rustich (2-4, 5.40) as its Sunday starter, while the Cardinal has yet to name its probable pitcher for Sunday.
Friday's contest versus the Bruins was the first of a seven-game homestand that will conclude Stanford's 2005 regular season home schedule. The Cardinal will also play 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 the homestand, beginning with Youth Baseball Day and a post-game Poster-Autograph Session this 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 snapped a season-high-tying three-game losing skid with Friday's victory as the Cardinal avoided dropping four in a row for the first time since losing four straight from May 11-21, 1998
Friday's contest was the fifth time in the last seven games between Stanford and UCLA that the contest has been decided in the last inning
Stanford came from behind to win for the 12th time in 28 games this season but the first time in 13 games the Cardinal had trailed in heading to the ninth
Stanford's one error allowed the Cardinal to maintain 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
Stanford's pitching staff lowered its ERA to 3.86 as the Cardinal is attempting to record an ERA under 4.00 for the fourth time in the last six seasons
Stanford has now seven of its last eight games at Sunken Diamond
Jeff Gilmore won his seventh consecutive decision while tossing his second complete game of the season and the fourth of his career to improve his all-time record at Stanford to 19-3 for an .864 winning percentage that ranks fifth on the school's all-time list
Jeff Gilmore has now allowed just three earned runs in 28.0 innings (0.96 ERA) since becoming the team's No. 1 starter on April 22