April 20, 2007
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Berkeley, Calif. - Tyson Ross and Matt Gorgen combined on a five-hit shutout to lead California (20-19, 4-6 Pac-10) to a 3-0 victory over Stanford (15-19, 1-9 Pac-10) in the opener of a three-game Pac-10 series at Evans Diamond on Friday. Ross pitched the first 7.2 innings, scattering five hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Gorgen came into the game with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the eighth and got Brendan Domaracki to hit into an inning-ending groundout before getting a strikeout and a double play in the ninth.
Stanford had its four-game win streak against California dating back to last season snapped and was shutout by the Golden Bears for the first time since losing 4-0 at California on April 28, 2001.
California ended a scoreless contest with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Michael Brady and Charlie Cutler's clutch two-out RBI double. Taylor Grigsby led off with a single but was forced out at second on Blake Smith's sacrifice bunt attempt. Brett Munster helped ease the pain of the Golden Bears' failed sacrifice bunt attempt when he singled Smith to second before the runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch from Bleich to set the stage for Brady and Cutler.Josh Satin's third homer of the season on a line shot over the left field wall with one out in the bottom of the sixth accounted for the only other run of the contest.
Stanford's Michael Taylor (2-4, 2B) and Randy Molina (2-4) were the only players for either team with more than one hit in a contest that featured just 11 hits between the clubs with the Golden Bears outhitting the Cardinal, 6-5.
Stanford left eight runners on base and had three big chances to score despite only five hits.
In the second, Domaracki drew a one-out walk and the Cardinal was in business after Brian Juhl's potential inning-ending double play ball was booted by Satin at second base before Ross got Cord Phelps and Molina on back-to-back groundouts to get out of trouble.
Stanford loaded the bases with just one out in the fifth when Ross hit Ratliff to start the inning, gave up a one-out double to Taylor and followed by walking Joey August. But Domaracki grounded into an inning-ending double play on a nice defensive effort from Satin at second base to end the threat.
Stanford's eighth inning rally started when Taylor beat out an infield hit with two outs and moved to third when August one-hopped a single back up the box off Ross' leg to put Cardinal runners at first and third before Gorgen came in to get Domaracki to end the inning.
Stanford starter Jeremy Bleich (1-6) took the loss despite retiring the Golden Bears in order four times in the first, third, fourth and seventh frames. Bleich allowed a total of three runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Tom Stilson got the final out for the Cardinal.
Stanford and California continue the series on Saturday and Sunday with start times each day scheduled for 1 pm, PT. Stanford is scheduled to send RHP Jeffrey Inman (3-2, 5.96) to the mound on Saturday against slated California starter RHP Alex Rollin (7-2, 4.26). Neither team has announced a probable starting pitcher for Sunday's finale.
Stanford will return to Sunken Diamond to begin a six-game homestand by hosting San Jose State in a non-conference contest on Tuesday, April 24 (6 pm, PT). The homestand will continue with a three-game conference series against defending College World Series champion Oregon State (Friday-Sunday, April 27-29, 7 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT) before concluding with another contest against Santa Clara on Tuesday, May 1 (6 pm, PT). The first two games of the Oregon State series will be televised live by Fox Sports Net and CSTV, respectively.
Tickets for the upcoming homestand and all regular season Stanford Baseball home contests are available online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD. On game days, tickets may be purchased at the Sunken Diamond Ticket Office window beginning one hour before first pitch. For group ticket information (groups of 10 or more), call 650-725-2876.