April 17, 2007
Stanford, Calif. - Santa Clara (19-19) scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning in a 6-3 non-conference win over Stanford (15-18) on a chilly Tuesday evening at Sunken Diamond. Tommy Medica broke a 3-3 tie with a one-out RBI single in the Bronco eighth to score David Hoffmire with the eventual winning run and Carl Bacon added a two-out two-run double later in the frame for a pair of insurance runs.
"You have to give Santa Clara credit," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "They came up with a couple of big hits in big spots."
Stanford got the tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but Sean Ratliff's hard-hit single on the right side of the infield hit pinch-runner Wande Olabisi on his way to second for the final out of the contest.
Reliever Justin Kuehn (3-3) earned the victory, allowing a run on three hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 2.2 innings. Jeff Lombard picked up his eighth save of the season by recording the final out.Five different Santa Clara players -- Bacon (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI), Hoffmire (2-4, RBI), Matt Long (2-4, SB), Evan LeBlanc (2-4, SB) and Brady Fuerst (2-4) - had two hits each.
Stanford's Brian Juhl (3-4, HR, 2 RBI) had the first three-hit game of his career and blasted a key two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 3-3, while Ratliff (2-5) was the only other Cardinal player with more than one hit.
Stanford reliever Max Fearnow (3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO) took the loss in relief of David Stringer (4.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO), who made his first start of the season. Tom Stilson (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 SO) allowed Bacon's key two-RBI double, while Austin Yount (0.1 IP, 1 SO) got the final out in the top of the ninth for the Cardinal.
Santa Clara struck first with a single run in the top of the first inning. Hoffmire and Long started the game off with back-to-back singles before Hoffmire scored when Medica grounded into a double play.
Stanford tied the score at 1-1 with an unearned run in the bottom of the first when Toby Gerhart reached with two outs on an error by Bronco third baseman Gabe Alcantar and scored on Michael Taylor's scorching double to the rightcenter field gap.
The score remained tied until the top of the fifth when the Broncos scored once to go back in front, 2-1. A leadoff single by LeBlanc, a sacrifice bunt from Jon Karcich and an infield single for Fuerst put runners on first and third with one out and ended Stringer's outing. Fearnow came into the game and was promptly at the center of a controversial play when he seemingly picked Fuerst off first base on a third to first pickoff move. However, the umpires originally ruled that Fearnow balked on the play before later changing their call after a long delay and putting the runners back at the corners and calling neither a balk or allowing the pickoff. Hoffmire then beat out an RBI fielder's choice to bring LeBlanc home.
Santa Clara would add another run in the seventh when LeBlanc beat out a two-out infield single, stole second base and scored on a clutch two-out RBI single by Karcich.
The biggest Cardinal production of the night happened in a flash in the bottom of the seventh. Santa Clara starter Sean O'Neill (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 SO) was removed from the game after hitting Cord Phelps on an 0-2 pitch to start the inning before Juhl sent the second pitch he saw from Kuehn over the right field wall to tie the contest at 3-3.
The momentum quickly swung back to the Broncos when Fearnow walked Hoffmire to start the top of the eighth before Long's sacrifice bunt moved him to second and set the stage for Medica's game-winning hit. Fearnow walked Ryan Conan before the runners advanced to second and third on Alcantar's ground ball. Stanford decided to bring the left-handed Stilson in to face the left-handed Bacon, who responded with his clutch two-out two-run double down the left field line to cap the rally.
A leadoff pinch-hit double by Brendan Domaracki and a two-out walk to pinch-hitter Randy Molina ended Kuehn's relief stint and set the stage for the game's final dramatic play.
Stanford returns to Pac-10 action with a three-game series at California (19-19, 3-6 Pac-10) this Friday-Sunday, April 20-22 (2:30 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT) before returning 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.