May 19, 2013
Box Score
BERKELEY, Calif. - A good cure for a six-game losing streak is a win. A great cure is a three-game sweep of your rival.
Stanford gave itself a dose of the great stuff by punctuating its Pac-12 Conference baseball series at Cal (22-31 overall, 10-20 Pac-12) with a 7-3 win, earning the first three-game sweep on the Golden Bears' home turf since 2003. Stanford won each of its five games this season against Cal.
The Cardinal (29-21, 14-13) posted a double-digit hit total for the day, knocking around the Golden Bears' pitching corps for 14 hits. Stanford collected 41 hits in the series at Evans Diamond.
After being blanked in the first two innings, Stanford posted four runs over the next three frames to claim a 4-1 lead.
Lonnie Kauppila opened the books with a single and scored on a Justin Ringo double to the wall in the third.
Bobby Zarubin overcame a pair of first-inning walks and left Cal runners on second and third. Zarubin did not allow a hit until there were two away in the third. Zarubin got some help from Austin Slater's inning-ending snag in right with a runner on third to keep Cal scoreless through three complete.
Stanford's fifth hit came when Alex Blandino found the rightfield gap to tack on an RBI and make it 2-0 in favor of the Cardinal. Brian Ragira and Austin Wilson each found an RBI in a two-run fifth.
Cal managed to scratch across an unearned run on Zarubin's watch, and the hurler allowed four hits in 3.1 innings of work. Stanford rattled Cal starter Dylan Nelson for eight hits and four runs - three earned - in 4.2 frames.
Kauppila feathered his 3-for-4 day with an RBI single in the eighth to help give Stanford a 6-2 advantage.
Diekroeger Ringo, Ragira and Blandino each had two hits. Ragira has reached base in 13 straight games, with Wilson doing so in 12 straight.
David Schmidt (3-0) contributed a reliable 3.2 innings in which Cal scored one run on five hits. Garrett Hughes fanned two and surrendered one hit in 2.0 innings.
Stanford closes the regular season with a four-game homestand beginning with a 5:30 p.m. (PT) contest Tuesday against Pacific.
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