April 10, 2006
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Stanford, Calif. - Chris Minaker's bouncing RBI single through the left side of the infield with no outs in the bottom of the ninth scored John Hester with the game-winning run to lift Stanford (15-11) to a 2-1 non-conference victory over Pacific (19-12) at Sunken Diamond on Monday. Jeremy Bleich (2-1) struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning to earn the win as the last of three Stanford pitchers that limited the Tigers to one run and just six hits, striking out a season-high-tying 13 batters and walking just two.
"This win is huge because we need some momentum going into a big Pac-10 series at Oregon State," said Minaker.
"All the teams we're playing are quality teams, so we need to get wins whenever we can," added Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
Stanford's ninth inning started when Hester reached second on a two-base throwing error by Pacific third baseman Justin Baum to lead off the inning. Minaker then failed in an attempt to bunt him over to third but a wild pitch by Stolp did the job. Pacific then brought centerfielder Anthony Jackson into the infield to give the Tigers five infielders and just two outfielders, but Minaker still bounced a 3-2 pitch over the head of Pacific shortstop Alex Zanini to end the contest.
"I was supposed to originally get a bunt down, but I didn't do my job," explained Minaker. "After the wild pitch, I was just really trying to make contact and get that run in any way. Luckily, I got a good fastball to hit, put the barrel on it and was able to bounce it over the infield."
Minaker (2-5, RBI) and Michael Taylor (2-2) had two hits each for the Cardinal.
Ramon Glasgow (2-4) was the only Pacific player with more than one hit.Pacific reliever Eric Stolp (3-2) took the loss without recording an out in the ninth inning.
Neither team scored an earned run in the contest.
Pacific scored its only run of the game to go ahead 1-0 in the second inning. Glasgow led off the frame with a double and scored on Minaker's two-out throwing error.
Stanford had several chances to score prior to finally picking up one run in the seventh to tie the score at 1-1. Hester was thrown out at the plate in the first inning, while the Cardinal also left a runner in scoring position in both the fourth and sixth frames before getting on the board.The Cardinal finally tied the score in the seventh when Hester hit what looked like a sure double play ball that would have ended the inning but Zanini booted it, allowing Cord Phelps to come all the way around from second to tie the game. Phelps and Joey August had singled in back-to-back at bats with one out to get the Cardinal rally started off Curtis Plasma (1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 SO), the first of three pitchers in relief of starter Jake Wild (5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 SO).
Stanford starter Matt Manship (4.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 SO) and David Stringer (3.2 IP, 4 SO) held the Tigers to just an unearned in the first eight innings before Bleich took over to start the ninth. Stringer came on with runners on first and second with one out in the fifth and got Manship out of a jam by retiring both batters he faced that inning, as well as 11 batters he faced in his outing.
Pacific had runners in scoring position in just three of the innings other than the second. The Tigers had runners reach as far as second in the third, fifth and ninth innings.
"We pitched well tonight," confirmed Marquess.
Stanford is scheduled to host San Francisco on Tuesday, April 11, with a new scheduled start time of 4 pm, PT. The Cardinal returns to Pac-10 action with a three-game series at Oregon State (21-9, 3-3 Pac-10) this Thursday-Saturday, April 13-15 (5 pm, 5 pm, 12 pm, PT).
"We want to get back to our winning ways," said Minaker. "Oregon State is a tough place to play, but we really want to get back on that winning track."