May 11, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - No. 6 Stanford hoped to avoid getting swept to their bay area rivals on Sunday afternoon and Klein Field and accomplished the task with an 8-5 victory over California to salvage the season finale. Junior first baseman Brent Milleville hit his second career grand slam in the fifth inning to give the Cardinal a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Sophomore Jeffrey Inman (7-2, 3.51 ERA) went 6 2/3 strong innings for the Cardinal and only allowed three earned runs.
For the third straight game in the series the Cardinal fell behind quickly when they allowed the Golden Bears to score three runs in the second inning to take the early lead. California catcher Dylan Tonneson forced a one out walk and moved to second base on a Blake Smith single to get the Golden Bears going. Jeff Kobernus continued his big weekend when he stroked a double down the right field line to plate Tonneson and give California their first run of the game. Brian Guinn though, getting his first start of the series at DH, came through with the biggest hit of the inning when sent another ball down the right field line to score Kobernus and Smith.
Stanford fought back in the fourth though with three runs of their own to tie the score. Jason Castro drew a one out walk and Milleville walked right after to put runners at first and second. Cardinal junior Randy Molina shot a ball up the middle, which brought home Castro and got Milleville all the way to third base. Junior Sean Ratliff followed with another single of his own to score Milleville and the Cardinal continued to be aggressive on the base paths with Molina going to third on the play. Cord Phelps made his lone appearance of the weekend as a pinch hitter and produced a sacrifice fly to tie the score.
The Cardinal came back the next inning and continued to hit the Golden Bears pitching. Starter Chris Petrini only lasted 3 1/3 innings and Kevin Miller came into relieve and didn't fare much better. Joey August came into the game and laced a single and moved to second when Colin Walsh singled as well. Castro got his second hit of the game right after to load the bases and brought up Milleville. Milleville took the 2-1 offering from Miller and hit a towering just to the right of the left field foul pole to get an ovation from the 2,401 at Klein Field. This pushed Stanford's lead to 7-3, a lead they would never relinquish in the game's final four innings.
Freshman Drew Storen gave the Cardinal a big lift with 2 1/3 shutout innings out of the pen and earned his fifth save of the season in the victory. Miller took the loss for California to fall to 6-1 on the season.
Stanford continued its very busy schedule with a game against Santa Clara tomorrow at Klein Field. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. and will be the final regular season home game for the Cardinal in 2008.