Feb. 25, 2007
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Juhl | Marquess | Stringer | Taylor
Stanford, Calif. - Brian Juhl hit his first career grand slam to cap a five-run third inning and David Stringer recorded his fourth save in as many games to lift Stanford (7-5) to a thrilling 7-6 win over Kansas (7-4) at Sunken Diamond on Sunday. The victory extended Stanford's season-long win streak to five in a row, completed a three-game sweep of the Jayhawks and kept the Cardinal unbeaten this season at home with a 6-0 Sunken Diamond mark. Stanford starter Jeremy Bleich (1-1) posted his first win of the season, striking out a career-high seven and scattering two runs on seven hits over a 6.0 inning outing that equaled his longest of the campaign.
"It was great to get the sweep," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "All weekend we got the big hits, and it was just the opposite for Kansas. We were very fortunate because they left a lot of guys on base, but we did get make some good pitches in big spots."
Michael Taylor also had a first inning solo homer for the Cardinal, while Adam Gaylord (2-3) was the only Stanford player with more than one hit.
John Allman (4-5, 2B, 3 RBI) and Kyle Murphy (4-5) had four hits each for Kansas, who outhit the Cardinal 14-9 but left 13 runners on base compared to just four by Stanford.
David Stringer recorded his fourth save in as many games in a 7-6 win over Kansas on Sunday |
Kansas starter Andy Marks (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season, allowing seven runs on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Jayhawk relievers Thomas Marcin (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) and Paul Smyth (1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) kept Kansas in the game as the Jayhawks scored the final four runs of the contest after trailing 7-2 at the end of six innings.
The Jayhawks entered the ninth inning down 7-5 and got a rally going when Taylor dropped Ryne Price's hard-hit one-out liner to the Cardinal right fielder for an error. Dylan Parzyk then singled to put runners on first and third, marking the end of the day for Cardinal reliever Brandt Walker (1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 SO). Stringer came on to retire Casey Larson on a sacrifice fly that scored Price but was also the second out. Murphy added to the drama with a single that moved Parzyk to third but Stringer caught Brock Simpson looking with the tying run just 90 feet away to end the game and notch his fifth save of the young season.
"I really wanted to close out the series today," remarked Stringer. "This was a big series win for us. We knew if we had a chance to sweep a very good and talented team like Kansas that it was very important to do that."
"One of the most impressive things was the way David Stringer pitched in this series," added Marquess. "To be able to come in three days in a row [and get the save] is really a positive thing. I don't think we've ever had a guy do that since I've been here."
The teams started the game by trading runs in the top of the first inning.
Bleich was wild in the Kansas first. Bleich hit Robby Price with one out and allowed a single to Allman before getting Preston Land to pop up to Phelps at second for the second out. The run was forced in when Bleich proceeded to pluck Erik Morrison and Ryne Price.
Taylor got the run right back for the Cardinal in the bottom of the first with his long two-out solo shot off the batters' eye beyond the center field fence.
"I've been working on my hitting a lot with my early season struggles and trying to go back to basics," said Taylor. "I felt like I've hit the ball fairly well the last few days."
Stanford took control of the game with its five-run third. Gaylord and Seawell started the rally with back-to-back one-out singles. Marks struck out Sean Ratliff for the second out but walked Taylor and Milleville to force in a run, giving the Cardinal a 2-1 lead. He ran the count full to Juhl before the Cardinal catcher planted a blast just over the left field fence.
"It felt really good," Juhl said about his grand slam. "I kind of knew the guy was coming with a fastball on a 3-2 count, and I was sitting dead fastball."
The teams traded runs again in the fifth as the Cardinal maintained a five-run lead at 7-2.
Robby Price started the Kansas sixth with a leadoff double and scored his second run of the game when Allman followed with an RBI single.
Milleville doubled with one out in the sixth inning for Stanford and scored when Jeff Whitlow legged out a two-out RBI infield hit.
Kansas' comeback attempt started in earnest in the top of the seventh when Nick Faunce led off with a single and scored on Land's two-out RBI double to cut the margin to 7-3.
The Jayhawks picked up two more in the eighth on a clutch two-out, two-RBI single from Allman to score Larson and Murphy, who had reached on back-to-back singles to start the inning.
Stanford will next be in action when the Cardinal hosts local rival California in a three-game non-conference series at Sunken Diamond this Friday-Sunday, March 2-4 (5 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT).
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 on game days. For group ticket information (groups of 10 or more), call 650-725-2876.