March 27, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford (12-9, 1-2 Pac-10) salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 5-3 victory over Washington State (20-7, 2-1 Pac-10) on Monday at Sunken Diamond. The victory allowed the Cardinal to avoid being swept in a regular season three-game home series for the first time since 1997, extending the run to 65 consecutive series.
Stanford led 3-0 before Washington State scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to cut the Cardinal lead to 3-2 but Randy Molina came through with a key two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning that proved to be the winning margin.
Washington State continued its comeback attempt by scoring for a third straight inning in the eighth but Cardinal reliever Jeremy Bleich worked out of the jam, leaving the tying run on second and another Cougar baserunner on third when he retired Ryan Krauser and Mike Gilbert for the final two outs of the frame. The Cougars scored the run on a throwing error by Stanford shortstop Chris Minaker after three singles in the inning by Jared Prince, Jeff Miller and Jim Murphy.
Washington State also got the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth after a two-out single by Jay Miller but Bleich got Jared Prince to hit into a fielders' choice to end the game.
Stanford starter Matt Manship (1-2) earned his first victory of the season, allowing just two runs and spreading out nine hits over 6.1 innings in his longest start of the season and second-longest of his career. Manship walked two and struck out four.
"I knew what was at stake today, and I wanted to deliver the best performance I could," said Manship.
Bleich returned to his early season form to pick up his sixth save of the season, allowing just an unearned run and four hits with one strikeout in 2.2 innings of work.
"This was the type of outing I needed to help my confidence," said Bleich, who was a perfect 5-for-5 in his first five save opportunities before blowing two and failing to keep a game tied in his three of his next four outings. "It was also definitely very important that we won this game today, because we didn't want to get swept at home."
The top three batters in Stanford's starring lineup - Joey August (2-3, SB), Jim Rapoport (2-2, SB) and Minaker (2-3, 2 RBI, SB) - combined for six of the eight Cardinal hits and scored four of the team's five runs with Ryan Seawell (August's seventh inning replacement) scoring the others. The middle of the Cardinal lineup - Minaker, Michael Taylor and Molina - drove in all five Stanford runs with Taylor and Molina collecting the other two Stanford hits.
Jay Miller (3-4) led Washington State's 13-hit offensive attack as the Cougars outhit the Cardinal for the third straight game and finished the series with 41 hits and three consecutive double-digit hit contests. Krauser (2-4) and Prince (2-5) added two hits each, while eight of the nine Washington State starters had at least one hit but the Cougars failed to come up with any extra-base knocks.
Washington State starter Wayne Daman, Jr. (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks without striking out a batter over the first 4.1 innings.
Stanford came out of the gate aggressively in the bottom of the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead when Minaker singled home Rapoport in an inning that was keyed by two of the team's season-high three stolen bases and also featured two walks and a wild pitch.
The Cardinal made it 2-0 in the second with the club's third stolen base of the day playing an integral role in the rally. August led off the frame with a leadoff single and stole second, before moving to third on Rapoport's infield single and scoring two batters later on an RBI single from Taylor.
In the fifth, three consecutive one-out singles by August, Rapoport and Minaker accounted for another Cardinal run to put Stanford ahead, 3-0.
"We wanted to come out today and play ahead rather than having to play from behind," said Minaker. "Playing ahead gives your offensive opportunities to do more things on the bases. It was good to get on the board first, and then we wanted to just keep pressing for more runs whenever we could get them and put the pressure on Washington State."
"We tried to be proactive today rather than sitting back and waiting for the game," continued Minaker. "We knew we needed to be aggressive, because you can't win in the Pac-10 just sitting back."
Washington State cut the Cardinal lead to 3-2 with their single runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
The Cougars loaded the bases with just one out in the sixth when Jay Miller's walk was followed by back-to-back singles from Prince and Zach McAngus. Jeff Miller then brought Jay Miller home with a sacrifice fly but Manship struck out Murphy to avoid further damage.
Krauser led off the Cougar seventh with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Mike Gilbert and scored on Paul Gran's RBI single that ended Manship's outing. Bleich then came in and preserved Stanford's one-run lead by retiring Travis Coulter and Jay Miller on consecutive fly outs to Seawell in left field.
The Cardinal loaded the bases for Molina's key two-run double in the eighth without a hit. Seawell drew a leadoff walk off Cougar reliever Matt Way (2.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO) to start the rally. Rapoport then laid down a sacrifice bunt on the next play and the Cardinal ended up with runners on second and third base after Way's throwing error on an attempt to get Seawell at second. Minaker was then intentionally walked and Molina came through with his shot down the left field line two batters later.
"I had seen the same pitch from the same pitcher in my previous at bat, so I kind of knew what his game plan," said Molina, who had hit into a bases loaded double play off Way to end the Cardinal fifth. "He threw the same pitch to the same spot again, and instead of trying to pull it, I put my swing on it and took it to left field."
Stanford returns to action by hosting USC (15-11, 2-1 Pac-10) in a three-game Pac-10 series next Friday-Sunday, March 31 - April 2 (6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT). The Trojans took two-of-three non-conference games against the Cardinal when the clubs met in Los Angeles from March 10-12.
"Hopefully, today's win will give us some momentum for the USC series," said Minaker. "We've beaten some good teams this year, and we will have to play well to beat a good USC team."