April 30, 2006
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Stanford, Calif. - Jim Rapoport's inside-the-park grandslam capped an eight-run fifth inning and lifted Stanford (19-19, 5-10 Pac-10) to an 11-4 win over No. 16 Arizona State (29-16, 8-7 Pac-10) in the rubber game of a three-game series before a crowd of 2400 enjoying a beautiful and warm afternoon at Sunken Diamond. Chris Minaker (3-5, 2B, 2 RBI) extended his hit streak to eight games with his sixth multiple-hit contest during the stretch, while John Hester (2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, SB) and Michael Taylor (2-5, 2 RBI) each had a pair of hits and drove in two runs. Brendan Domaracki (2-2, 2B) and Ryan Seawell (2-4) and also had two hits each.
"I just kept running," said Rapoport about his actions after seeing a diving Arizona State center fielder Colin Curtis fail to come up with the ball he hit into the gap in left center.
"I've never seen that," added 30th-year Stanford head coach Mark Marquess when he was asked if he had ever seen an inside-the-park grandslam.
Matt Manship (2-5) gave up just one run and scattered seven hits in 5.0 innings with four strikeouts to get the win in relief of starter Matt Leva (4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO).
"We battled well and got some timely hitting today, as well as a great pitching performance from Matt Manship," said Marquess, who moved into sole possession of 13th-place on the all-time win list for NCAA Division I coaches with his 1243rd career victory (all at Stanford).
Brett Wallace (2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) accounted for half of Arizona State's runs on his two-run shot with no outs in the fourth, while Colin Curtis (2-4, RBI), Preston Paramore (2-4, RBI) and Frank Mesa (2-4) also had two-hit efforts.
Sun Devil starter Jeff Urlaub (5-2) was tagged with the loss, allowing five runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts before he could get an out in the big Cardinal fifth.
Arizona State had got on the board first when Ike Davis doubled to lead off the fourth and Wallace followed with his two-run blast. Frank Mesa then tripled after being given a second chance in the at bat when Cardinal first baseman Brent Milleville failed to catch his pop-up in foul ground and Paramore followed with an RBI single that completed a team cycle by the first four batters of the inning and put ASU ahead, 3-0.
Stanford answered right back on a two-run double by Hester in its half of the fourth to cut the Sun Devil margin to 3-2. Minaker and Taylor reached on back-to-back one-out singles to set the table for Hester.
Urlaub's control problems started the eight-run Cardinal fifth when he walked Rapoport and pinch-hitter Randy Molina before hitting Seawell on a sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases. Brett Bruneel (0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER) came on to get Chris Lewis to fly out to Curtis in shallow center field but Minaker came through with an RBI infield single on a rocket off the glove of Mesa at third to tie the game at 3-3. Taylor then grounded a two-run single up the middle to put the Cardinal ahead for the first time and Hester was hit by a pitch to end Bruneel's brief outing. Milleville made it 6-3 in favor of Stanford with a sacrifice fly and Domaracki kept the inning alive for Rapoport's dramatic second at bat of the frame with a pinch-hit infield single.
Stanford tacked on a run in the eighth when Seawell singled with one out and scored on Minaker's two-out RBI double down the left field line.Arizona State scored a run in the ninth when pinch-hitter Willy Fox doubled with one out and scored two batters later on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Curtis.
Stanford's win gave the Cardinal a series victory for the first time since the club took two-of-three at Fresno State from February 24-26. The five-series losing streak was Stanford's longest since dropping seven series in a row by losing its final six of 1993 as well as its first series of 1994.
"We were in an unprecedented series drought, especially for us," said Minaker. "To come out today and take a series against a top notch team like Arizona State and play like we are capable of was huge. It does a lot for our confidence, let alone our record."
Stanford continues a busy slate with a non-conference game at California on Monday (2:30 pm, PT). The Cardinal returns to Sunken Diamond to host San Jose State in the first of four straight home contests on Tuesday (6 pm, PT), before welcoming California to The Farm for a three-game Pac-10 series next Friday-Sunday (6 pm, 4 pm, 1 pm, PT).
The first two games of the Stanford-California series will be televised live with Friday night's game airing on Comcast Sports Net and Saturday's contest on Fox Sports Net Bay Area.
There will also be promotions for the final two contests of the series. On Saturday, the "All-Time Starting 9" as voted upon by fans throughout the 2006 season will be announced and the first 2000 people through the gate will receive limited edition "All-Time Starting 9" trading cards. The annual Little League Day will be held in conjunction with Sunday's contest.