May 14, 2006
Complete Recap in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Seattle, Wash. - Stanford (27-21, 10-11 Pac-10) stayed hot by extending its longest win streak of the season to six games with a 10-2 victory over Washington (32-23, 9-12 Pac-10) to complete a three-game sweep on Sunday at Husky Ballpark. The Cardinal scored seven runs in the top of the fourth inning and then rode the winning pitcher Jeremy Bleich (4-4) and reliever Matt Manship to the win. Michael Taylor (3-4, HR, RBI), Jason Castro (2-4, HR, career-high 3 RBI) and Ryan Seawell (2-6, HR, RBI) homered for the Cardinal, while Grant Escue (3-5, RBI) and Chris Lewis (2-3, 2 2B) added multiple-hit game with Chris Minaker driving in a pair of runs.
The sweep moved Stanford into sole possession of fifth-place in the Pac-10 standings after the Cardinal had entered the series versus the Huskies in the eighth spot.
"It's not often in a conference like the Pac-10 you can get a sweep, especially on the road," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "Hopefully, this is an indication of the way we are playing right now. We played really well today in all aspects of the game."
Bleich pitched a career-high 7.0 innings, allowing just two runs while scattering eight hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Manship closed out the game by giving up just one hit with a strikeout in 2.0 scoreless frames.
"It was a good feeling to get the ball in a situation like today (with a chance for a sweep)," said Bleich. "I got myself into a couple of tough situations, but I was able to get myself out of them, and I was pleased with that.
Brett Kaluza (2-3, HR, RBI), Curt Rindal (2-4, 2B) and Zach Clem (2-4, 2B, RBI) had two hits each for the Huskies.
Washington starter Elliott Cribby (6-6) took the loss, giving up seven runs on 10 hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Washington struck first with a run in the bottom of the third when Rindal and Clem hit back-to-back doubles off the wall with two outs.
Stanford answered with seven runs in the top of the fourth to take a 7-1 lead. Taylor got the run the Cardinal had given up in the bottom of third right back when Taylor crushed the first pitch he saw off Washington starter and losing pitcher Elliott Cribby (6-6) for a long home run over the left field wall. Molina immediately restarted the rally with a single before Lewis hit his second consecutive double down the third base line to put Cardinal runners on second and third. The Cardinal scored a pair of runs on the next play to take the lead for good when Castro beat out an infield single to score Molina and Lewis also scored when Washington shortstop Danny Cox threw the ball away trying to get Lewis at third. Juhl then drew a walk and Rapoport beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Seawell then hit into a potential double play when he grounded to Matt Stevens at third base but Husky catcher Matt Lane lost the ball in the exchange, recording the force on Castro at home but failing to get Seawell at first base. Escue then beat out an RBI infield single to plate Juhl and Minaker followed by hitting the first pitch he saw for a two-run single through the left side to score Rapoport and Seawell. After Taylor walked in his second plate appearance of the inning, Molina capped the big rally with an RBI ground out to score Escue.
Stanford added two insurance runs in the seventh when Lewis drew a leadoff walk and Castro followed with a high fly ball to right center that drifted over the wall for his second career homer.
"We've been struggling with the bats all year, so it's good to see that we can come out with the bats and swing consistently well," said Castro. "This series against Washington was good for us and hopefully will give us a lot of momentum heading into our last seven games of the regular season."
The teams traded solo homers for the final two runs of the game with Washington's Chris Kaluza hitting a one-out solo shot over the right field wall with one out in the seventh and Seawell drilling a line drive over the left field wall with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Stanford returns to action by hosting Santa Clara at Sunken Diamond next Tuesday, May 16 (6 pm, PT). The Cardinal closes out its 2006 Pac-10 action with a three-game series at UCLA next Friday-Sunday, May 19-21 (6 pm, 2 pm, 1 pm, PT).
"We're playing well now, and we feel like we have the ability to beat anyone," said Taylor. "It's important for to just take care of things one at a time and that means our next game at Santa Clara on Tuesday. We've been through a lot of really rough times this year, but our guys have stuck with it and here we are on the other end looking to do something special