March 3, 2007
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Postgame Inteviews
Jeremy Bleich | Mark Marquess | Michael Taylor
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford (9-5) scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a one-run California (7-9) lead and held on for a wild 5-4 victory on Saturday at Sunken Diamond. Michael Taylor tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI double and Joey August followed with an RBI groundout as Sean Ratliff and Jason Castro scored the tying and eventual winning runs. Ratliff and Castro drew back-to-back one-out walks to start the rally.
The victory extended Stanford's season-long win streak to seven in a row and improved the Cardinal to 8-0 at home in 2007.
"For us to come back and score two runs in the seventh after they had taken the lead was huge for us," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
"This team is born out of last year with our resolve," added Taylor about the club's tenacity. "We've been through a lot, and we understand the process of the game and if you keep working at it things can happen."
Taylor (2-4, 2 2B, RBI) was the only Stanford player with more than one hit, while Castro drove in a pair of runs.
Tom Stilson (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory by coming on to retire David Cooper on a groundout to Cardinal scored baseman Cord Phelps for the final out in the four-run California seventh.
The Golden Bears were threatening for more with runners on first and third when Stilson came in and got the only batter he faced.
Max Fearnow earned his second save of the season by recording the final four outs. Fearnow allowed just one walk and struck out two.
Michael Brady (3-4, 2B, 3 RBI) had a huge day for California and drove in three of the Golden Bears' four runs in the seventh with a bases-loaded three-RBI double.
Cooper (0-1) took the loss in his first appearance for the Golden Bears as the seventh of eight California pitchers in the contest.
Stanford was the first to score when Ratliff led off the bottom of the first with his first career triple and came home on a sacrifice fly from Castro.
The Cardinal went ahead 3-0 with two more in the third. Ryan Seawell started the rally with a leadoff double and moved to third when Ratliff struck out but reached first base safely when California starting catcher Brett Thomas made his first of two throwing errors in the frame. Castro then singled home Seawell and moved Ratliff to second. The Cardinal scored its final run in the inning when Thomas threw the ball away at third base while trying to throw Ratliff out on the front end of a double steal after Taylor had struck out.
Stanford starter Jeremy Bleich (6.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) blanked the Golden Bears on just two hits through the first six innings before running into trouble in the seventh.
"I cruised through some of those early innings," said Bleich. "But, I was not extremely pleased with the [end] result. I was extremely pleased that we got the win, but I felt like I didn't finish the job so I was upset with that. Still, overall we had some guys step up in some key situations like [Tom] Stilson and [Blake] Hancock getting those lefties out in key situations so overall it was a good team win for us."
Ryan Hanlon started the California seventh when he drew the only walk issued by Bleich before Josh Satin followed with a single. Bleich recorded a strikeout when Michael Capbarat failed to get a sacrifice bunt attempt down with two strikes for the first out but then gave up a single to Blake Smith to load the bases for Brady, who cleared the bags and tied the game at 3-3 with his shot into the left centerfield gap that ended Bleich's outing. Pinch-hitter Mike Van Winden put the Golden Bears ahead for the first time in the series when he greeted reliever Brandt Walker (0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) with an RBI single to plate Brady. Walker caught Jeff Kobernus looking for the second out but allowed a single to Brett Munster to put runners on first and third before Stilson came on to get the final out of the inning.
 Tom Stilson recorded the first victory of his collegiate career on Saturday in a 5-4 win over California  | |
David Stringer, who had saved each of Stanford's last five games, came on to start the eighth but allowed a single to the first batter he faced and walked the second. Charlie Cutler then put down a sacrifice bunt attempt down the first base line but was called out for interference for running inside the baseline when he was hit in the back on a throw from Stanford first baseman Brent Milleville in an attempt to retire Cutler at first base. Southpaw Blake Hancock relieved Stringer and struck out the left-handed hitting Smith for the second out before Fearnow struck out Brady to keep the slim Cardinal lead intact.
The Golden Bears also got a runner on in the top of the ninth when pinch-hitter Jordan Karnofsky drew a two-out walk. Cooper then hit a routine grounder to Adam Gaylord that the Cardinal shortstop booted but the ball rolled right to Phelps at second base for the final out of the contest.
"It was a good win for us," summarized Marquess. "We've found a way to won even when we haven't hit. We came through in some big spots and are finding a way to win."
Stanford and California will conclude their three-game series on Sunday (1 pm, PT). The Golden Bears are slated to go with RHP Alex Rollin (3-0, 3.98) while the Cardinal has yet to announce a starting pitcher.
Tickets for Sunday's game versus California may be purchased at the Sunken Diamond Ticket Office window one hour before first pitch on game days. Tickets for all regular season Stanford Baseball home games are also available online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD. Tickets For group ticket information (groups of 10 or more), call 650-725-2876.