Stanford Blasts Oregon State To Win Series

The Stanford Cardinal kept their perfect series win record intact on Saturday with a 16-4 rout of the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis. Stanford has now won all nine of their series played this season and 13 in a row dating back to last year. In today's action, Stanford connected for five home runs as they jumped out to an early big lead with seven runs in the top of the first inning. Read on for all the details.

Stanford made an early statement in the game this afternoon with seven runs in the top of the first inning to take a big lead.  Sam Fuld started things off with a single which was followed by a single off the bat of Jonny Ash.  After Jed Lowrie walked to load the bases, Danny Putnam smoked a double to center field scoring all three runners.  But the Cardinal weren't done as after a walk to John Mayberry, Jr. and a sacrifice bunt from Donny Lucy, Brian Hall came through with an RBI single for a 4-0 lead.   Up next was DH Chris Carter and the slugging lefty delivered the final blow of the inning with a three-run home run to right.  Just like that, it was 7-0 Stanford.

Cardinal starter Jeff Gilmore struggled early on in his outing this afternoon.  Mike Lissman singled to lead off the bottom of the first which was followed by a double from Aaron Mathews.  The Cardinal-killer this weekend Chris Campos was up next and the OSU left fielder smoked a home run to cut the lead down to 7-3.  Campos went 2-for-4 with a home run on Thursday and then was a perfect 3-for-3 during Friday's game.  Gilmore would settle down though after the home run to keep the score at 7-3 after one.

Stanford would not let up against OSU starter Dallas Buck in the second inning.  Consecutive singles from Ash and Lowrie got things started.  Putnam then grounded a ball up the middle to where shortstop Chad Schroeder fielded the ball, but his throw to second was wild and everyone was safe.  Buck avoided the big inning though as he got the next hitter, Mayberry, Jr., to ground into a 4-6-3 double play (a run did score on the play).  But then Lucy singled home a run to left to make it 9-3 which ended Buck's afternoon.  Reliever Kyle Aselton set down the next batter, Brian Hall, to end the inning.

Gilmore put up a zero in the bottom of the second and then the Cardinal offense went back to work.  With two outs and nobody on in the third, Fuld reached on a throwing error by the shortstop Schroeder.  After the speedy center fielder stole second, Ash brought him home with a single to make it 10-3.

Gilmore really settled into a groove at this point in the game as he worked around a one-out double in the bottom of third and then fired a perfect 1-2-3 fourth frame.  Meanwhile, Stanford added to their already large lead with two more scores in the top of the fifth to make it a 12-3 game.  Lucy got things started with a single and then Brian Hall continued his power surge with a two-run home run.  For Hall, it was his third homer of the series and his seventh of the season - a career high.

In the bottom of the fifth, Gilmore retired the first batter before Campos continued his assault on Cardinal pitching with a solo home run.  That ended Gilmore's afternoon as freshman Jeff Stimpson was summoned from the bullpen.  This despite Gilmore retiring six consecutive batters before the home run and Stanford still with a commanding 12-4 lead.  But the move was made and Stimpson was now in to pitch.

Stanford added a single run in the top of the sixth to push their lead to 13-4 when Putnam connected on a solo homer to center field.  For Danny, it was his seventh bomb of the season.

Stimpson worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, but ran into some trouble in the seventh.  Stimpson hit the first batter with a pitch and then the next hitter reached on a fielding error by Lowrie at second.  Stimpson came back to strike out to dangerous Campos, but then #4 hitter Shea McFeely drew a walk to load the bases.  Showing very nice poise though, Stimpson came back to strike out the next two hitters - Mike Hass and Andy Jenkins - to end the threat.  Doubly impressive was that during the Jenkins at-bat, Lucy dropped a foul pop-up which extended the AB.  However, Stimpson calmly came back to strike him out looking. 

The Cardinal bats would not let up despite the big lead and it was again the longball that produced more scoring.  After Putnam drew a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, Mayberry, Jr. ripped a home run to left.  And then for good measure, Donny Lucy launched a home run extending the lead out to 16-4.

Matt Leva relieved Stimpson to start the bottom of the eighth and the freshman worked a scoreless frame.  Then it was Greg Reynolds' turn in the bottom of the ninth and the 6'8" freshman also put up a zero.   Both Leva and Reynolds worked around one-out singles.

Game Notes:
* Stanford ripped five home runs today which tied a season-high.  They also hit five back on February 7th at Fresno State (13-4 win).

* With the win, the Cardinal have now won all nine of their series played this season and an amazing 13 in a row going back to last year.

* So many offensive stars for the Cardinal this afternoon.  Ash went 4-for-6 with an RBI.  Lucy finished 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI.  Hall continued his extremely hot hitting with a 3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI performance.  Hall's hitting streak is now at 15 games.

* Other multi-hit games came from Putnam (2-for-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) and Carter (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI).

* Stimpson was dominant in relief today.  The freshman right hander went 2 2/3 scoreless, no-hit innings.  He walked two and struck out a whopping six.  His season ERA is now down to 0.54 (16.2 IP/1 ER).

* Gilmore went 4 1/3 innings this afternoon yielding four runs on six hits.  He walked one and struck out five.

Stanford       7 2 1  0 2 1  0 3 0   -   16  17   2
Oregon State   3 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 0   -    4   8   3

WP: Jeff Stimpson (1-1)
LP: Dallas Buck (1-3)

HR: Stanford - Danny Putnam (7), John Mayberry, Jr. (9), Donny Lucy (5), Brian Hall (7), Chris Carter (4) ; Oregon State - Chris Campos 2 (5, 6).

Records: #1 Stanford (25-5, 4-2), Oregon State (19-11, 4-5)

* The Cardinal will be back in action on Tuesday night when they host Santa Clara for a single non-conference game.  First pitch is scheduled for 6:00pm.  Next weekend, Stanford hosts rival Cal for a three-game series, Friday-Sunday (6pm, 1pm, 1pm).