Feb. 24, 2007
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Post-Game Interviews: Andrew Clauson | David Stringer | Mark Marquess | Cord Phelps
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford (6-5) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to break open a tie game on the way to a 4-1 victory over Kansas (7-3) at Sunken Diamond on Saturday. The victory extended Stanford's longest win streak of the season to four in a row, improved the club to 5-0 at home this season and lifted the team above the .500 mark overall for the first time in 2007. David Stringer notched his third save in Stanford's last three games by getting the final two outs in the ninth inning, while Andrew Clauson (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief work.
"I'll take it if we get the 'W' at the end of the game," said Stringer about his save.
Ryan Seawell (3-4, RBI, SB), Cord Phelps (2-3, 2B, RBI) and Brian Juhl (2-3, 2B) all had multiple-hit games and key hits in the Cardinal seventh. Juhl started the inning with a leadoff double before Phelps broke the 1-1 tie with an RBI double that plated Juhl and Seawell capped the rally with an RBI single. Brendan Domaracki also doubled home Phelps in the frame and later scored on Seawell's RBI single.
"Putting together the big inning has been the difference for us lately," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "We have bunched together some hits in an inning and that's made the difference ... We can get a lot better offensively, but we have had some timely hitting. When we got them on [today], we got them in."
Cord Phelps had a key seventh inning RBI double in Stanford's 4-1 win over Kansas on Saturday |
"I was just looking for a pitch to hit up in the zone," contributed Phelps about his clutch double. "I was lucky to get the barrel on it and get it down the line. Those are kind of the spots you live for as an athlete to get a chance to help your team win. That's always fun. You just hope you can come up and produce."
John Allman (2-5, 2 2B, SB) and Robby Price (2-4) both had multiple-hit games for the Jayhawks, who stranded 13 runners on base but could score only run despite seven walks and a hit batsmen by Cardinal pitchers Jeffrey Inman (5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO), Blake Hancock (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB), Clauson (2.1 IP, 1 BB, 1 HP) and Stringer (0.2 IP, 1 BB).
"It's good to get over the hump and get that first win out of the way," said Clauson.
"The situation was kind of the same thing as yesterday," added Stringer. "I really wanted to pick Andrew Clauson up and get him that win ... That was a huge spot he came into today. He did an amazing job by stopping their momentum and then once we got the lead by holding them there and getting us to the end of the game. I was just happy to finish it for him and the rest of the guys. It's great to win a series and hopefully we'll finish it out tomorrow."
Kansas starter Nick Czyz (1-1) took the loss despite holding the Cardinal to just one run over the first six innings. Czyz ended up allowing a total of three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts over 6.1 innings. Wally Marciel (0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO) and Hiarali Garcia (1.0 IP, 2 SO) also pitched for the Jayhawks.
Kansas got on the board first Saturday with a run off Inman in the top of the third when Price singled with one out, moved to third on an Allman double and scored two batters later on Erik Morrison's sacrifice fly on a bang-bang play at the plate on a throw from Michael Taylor in right field.
The Jayhawks would put a runner in scoring position in every inning except the eighth but could not manage any other runs.
"They put some runners on base, but we won the big spots," explained Marquess. "That was the difference."
Stanford made the most of its few opportunities, leaving just four runners on base and scoring in two of the three innings the Cardinal was able to get runners into scoring position.
After having leadoff singles in both the second and third inning wiped out by double plays, Stanford finally broke through with a run in the fourth to tie the game at 1-1 when Seawell led off with a single, stole second base, moved to third on a throwing error by Jayhawk catcher Joe Servais and scored on Taylor's RBI single.
Stanford and Kansas continue are scheduled to conclude the three-game series Sunday (11 am, PT) with Stanford LHP Jeremy Bleich (0-1, 6.89) slated to go against fellow southpaw Andy Marks (2-0, 0.73) from Kansas.
Tickets for all regular season Stanford Baseball home games are available online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD. Tickets may also be purchased at the Sunken Diamond Ticket Office window one hour before first pitch. For group ticket information (groups of 10 or more), call 650-725-2876.