March 10, 1999
STANFORD, Calif. -Juniors Nick Day and Jeff Rizzo each homered and drove in three runs to lead No. 6 Stanford (15-6, 3-0) to an 11-8 victory over No. 8 Arizona State (19-8, 0-3) on Sunday afternoon at Sunken Diamond.
The win helped the Cardinal complete a three-game weekend sweep over the Sun Devils. Stanford has now won six straight over Arizona State at Sunken Diamond, and eight of the last nine overall.
The Cardinal led 4-3 after five innings, and appeared to break the game open with a five-run sixth inning behind two-run homers by both Rizzo and Day. The Sun Devils, however, answered right back with five runs in the top of the eighth keyed by a two-run single by senior Andrew Beinbrink (San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS).
Stanford then put the game away in the bottom of the eighth on back-to-back RBI singles by junior Damien Alvarado and Day. Freshman right-hander Dan Rich preserved the victory with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief to earn his collegiate save.
The Cardinal banged out a total of 14 hits on the afternoon, and finished with 39 in the three-game series. Junior Eric Bruntlett, Alvarado and Rizzo had three hits apiece, while Day chipped in two. Freshman Brian Sager worked the first 6.0 innings on the hill for the Cardinal, and allowed just two earned runs, to pick up the victory and improve to 2-0.
Junior Jay Sitzman (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon HS) led the Sun Devils with three hits, while junior Mark Ernster (Glendale, AZ/Ironwood HS) and Beinbrink added two hits apiece. Beinbrink also hit his sixth homer of the year, while junior Mitch Jones (Orem, UT/Utah Valley CC) blasted his fourth.
Arizona State next hosts an exhibition game against Aomori University of Japan on Thursday at 7 p.m. (MT).
Linescore Arizona State 011 001 050 --- 8 13 4 Stanford 001 012 52x --- 11 14 4 Switzer, Pennington (7), Doble (7), Williamson (8), Waldrip (8) and Myers, Pratt (8); Sager, Gosling (7), Cogan (8), Rich (8) and Alvarado. WP - Sager (2-0). LP - Switzer (4-2). SV - Rich (1). 2B - Ernster (ASU) 2, Phelps (ASU), Rizzo (STAN), Alvarado (STAN), Day (STAN), Bruntlett (STAN). HR - Beinbrink (ASU) 2nd inning, none on; Jones (ASU) 6th inning, none on; Day (STAN) 7th inning, one on; Rizzo (STAN) 7th inning, one on. Records - Arizona State 19-8 overall (0-3 in the Pac-10), Stanford 15-6 (3-0).