Feb. 5, 2006
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Stanford, Calif. - Stanford (3-0) finished off a three-game sweep of No. 5 Cal State Fullerton (0-3) with a 6-3 victory over the Titans on Sunday at Sunken Diamond. Austin Yount (1-0) pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of one-hit relief to become the third Cardinal freshman in as many days to earn a victory on the mound, while fellow rookie Jeremy Bleich came on to get the final three outs in the ninth and earn his first collegiate save. Michael Taylor (2-3, HR, 2 RBI) and Chris Lewis (1-3, HR, 2 RBI) both homered and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Cardinal offense.
"Cal State Fullerton is a really good team who is going to be in the mix at the end of the year," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "It's a long season but for us to sweep a team like this at any point in the season is really important."
"This was huge for us," added Taylor. "This was a really big series and a big stage for us."
Brandon Tripp (2-4, SB), Justin Turner (2-4) and Blake Davis (2-4) had two hits each to lead a Cal State Fullerton offense that outhit the Cardinal, 8-7, and left 11 runners on base compared to just two for Stanford.
The Titans stranded a pair of runners on the bases and the tying run at the plate in the top of the ninth. After retiring all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth innings, Yount gave up a leadoff single to Tripp before hitting Turner with a pitch and was removed from the game. Bleich quickly ended the threat by getting Davis to fly out, striking out Brett Pill and retiring John Curtis on a groundball to another Cardinal freshman Jason Castro at first base.
Cal State Fullerton left two or more runners on base four times in the contest and had another potential rally wiped out by a double play. The Titans had at least one runner reach base in all but the fourth and eighth frames.
On the other hand, Stanford made the most of its opportunities by scoring six runs and leaving only a single runner on first base in the second and eighth frames.
Taylor got the Cardinal started when he blasted his first home run of the season, a solo shot with two outs in the first.
Lewis increased Stanford's lead to 3-0 in the second when he hit a two-run homer that also scored Castro, who had singled in front of him.
"I got a good pitch to hit and finally put a good a swing on it," said Lewis, who was 0-for-6 in the team's first two games.
Stanford starter Matt Leva (4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 SO) held Cal State Fullerton scoreless for the first four innings before he was removed for reliever Blake Holler (2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO).
Cal State Fullerton got on the scoreboard with an unearned run off Holler in the fifth when Tripp singled, stole second base, moved to third on a groundout by Turner and scored on John Hester's passed ball.
Stanford answered with three runs in its half of the fifth. The freshman duo of Cord Phelps and Joey August started the rally with back-to-back singles - the first collegiate hits for both. Jim Rapoport then doubled home Phelps and moved August to third before consecutive sacrifice flies from Sean Ratliff and Taylor closed out the rally.
The Titans got one back in the sixth and one more in the seventh.
In the sixth, Curtis drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a single by pinch-hitter David Cooper and third on a flyout from Danny Dorn, before scoring on Evan McArthur's RBI fielders' choice.
A big inning looked to be in the making for the Titans in the seventh after Turner led off with a single and Holler committed an error on Davis' sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second with no outs before Yount came on in relief and retired Pill, Curtis and Cooper in succession. The Titans were able to push across one run in the inning when Turner moved to third on Pill's fly ball and scored on an RBI groundout from Curtis.
Cal State Fullerton starter Lauren Gagnier (0-1) suffered the loss as the first of four Titan pitchers, allowing six runs and six hits with a walk and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
Stanford, who started the season unranked for the first time since the Baseball America poll began in 1981, will host Kansas (4-1) in a three-game series at Sunken Diamond next Friday-Sunday, February 10-12 (5 pm, 1 pm, 11 am, PT).