May 29, 2004
STANFORD, Calif. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- No. 2 Stanford hit three, two-out home runs and rode the solid pitching by starter Jeff Gilmore in a 10-3 victory over No. 8 Arizona State Saturday afternoon in Pac-10 baseball action at Sunken Diamond.
The Cardinal clinched the series win and the outright Pac-10 title with their fourth straight victory to improve to 44-11 overall and 16-7 in league play. ASU lost its third straight to fall to 39-16 and dropped into a tie with Arizona for fourth place in the conference standings at 12-11.
Gilmore shut down the Sun Devil offense allowing only three runs and six hits in seven innings. The sophomore right-hander struck out six and walked two to improve to 9-2 on the season. Sophomore reliever Kodiak Quick sealed the win giving up one run over the final two innings.
ASU junior starting pitcher Jason Urquidez was roughed up for five runs and six hits in just two and a third innings to fall to 11-3 on the season. Freshman reliever Pat Bresnehan was solid out of the bullpen scattering two hits in two and two-thirds scoreless frames.
After being shutout with only three hits in Friday's series opener, the Devils offense again struggled with only six hits. Junior second baseman Josh Asanovich was 2-for-3 with one RBI and a run scored. Junior reserve outfielder Ryan McKenna extended his career-high hitting streak to five games with double down the right field line.
Stanford got off to a quick start building a 1-0 lead on a two-out triple by junior left fielder Danny Putnam.
ASU took its first lead of the series with a two-run second inning. A leadoff double by Jeff Larish and a single by Asanovich set the table for the rally. Catcher Tuffy Gosewisch tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right field and freshman designated hitter Zechry Zinicola drilled a two-out double to center field to score Asanovich from first base.
The Cardinal took the lead for good with another strong two-out rally in the bottom of the second inning. A pair of two-run home runs from shortstop Chris Minaker and third baseman Jonny Ash staked Stanford to a 5-2 lead.
Stanford struck again with two outs resulting in a four-run fourth frame. Putnam singled to shallow left field with two outs to score Minaker and sophomore first baseman John Mayberry, Jr., capped the rally with a three-run homer to left field.
The Cardinal out-hit ASU 13-6 and were led by the three hits from senior right fielder Brian Hall (3-for-4, R). Ash (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI), Putnam (2-for-5, 2 RBI) and Minaker (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) also recorded multi-hit games.
The Sun Devils and Cardinal complete the regular season tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Sunken Diamond. The NCAA Baseball Field of 64 will be announced Monday morning at 9 a.m. on ESPN2. Stanford 10, Arizona State 3 (May 29, 2004 at Stanford, Calif.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona State....... 020 000 010 - 3 6 0 (39-16, 12-11 Pac-10) Stanford............ 140 410 00X - 10 13 0 (44-11, 16-7 Pac-10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Arizona State - Urquidez; Averill(3); Bresnehan(6). Stanford - Gilmore; Quick(8). Win-Gilmore(9-2) Loss-Urquidez(11-3) T-2:59 A-2874 HR STAN - Ash (5); Mayberry, Jr (14); Minaker (3). --Sun Devil Baseball--