Gilmore's pitching Gilmore's pitching (March 23, 2005)a relief for Cardinal

His seven innings of important relief pitching helps Stanford rally for a 9-6 baseball victory over Pacific

by Rick Eymer

With pitching ace Mark Romanczuk struggling, Stanford turned to No. 2 starter Jeff Gilmore to get things right. Gilmore had his share of struggles but managed seven innings of relief to help give the Cardinal a 9-6 come-from-behind victory over host Pacific in a nonconference baseball game Sunday in Stockton.

Stanford won for just the second time on the road in seven games.

Gilmore would have been the normal starter on Sunday had Saturday's game at Stanford not been rained out.

"It was an uphill battle every single pitch for me," Gilmore said. "It took a lot of things from all of our guys to get this victory."

Gilmore overcame six hit batters and did not allow a run over his final six innings as Stanford (12-7) rallied behind Jed Lowrie, who hit his team-leading eighth homer, a three-run shot, which highlighted a four-run fourth that put the Cardinal ahead to stay.

"We were able to do enough to win and that's important," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "We got some great pitching from Jeff Gilmore after a tough start and came up with a big inning when we needed one. I'm proud of our guys for the character they showed."

Jim Rapoport matched his career-high with three hits while John Mayberry, Jr. had two hits and drove in two runs, and John Hester added a pair of hits and an RBI.

Mayberry, Jr. recorded his fifth consecutive multiple-hit game, and has a team-high 11. He leads the team with a .360 batting average

"It was really rewarding to get this win," Lowrie said. "Our offense showed some character in the way it came back."

Pacific had had the tying run at the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth before Gilmore retired the final two hitters.

"The best teams are those that can score a lot of runs if the pitching is shaky or can shut down an opponent when you aren't hitting, and we did both things at times," Gilmore said. "That's what good teams do; they pick each other up."

Stanford was scheduled to meet host San Jose State on Tuesday night.
Women's lacrosse

Freshmen Megan McClain and Daphne Patterson each scored two goals as Stanford completed a two-game sweep over the weekend with an 8-4 victory over visiting Cornell on Saturday.

The Cardinal (5-2) beat visiting Colgate, 12-7, on Friday.

Stanford beat Cornell for the first time in six games. Stanford grad Abbi Hills, the second-leading all-time scorer with 112 goals, is an assistant coach with the Big Red.

Cornell scored first but the Cardinal responded with four goals to gain control of the contest.

Stanford goalkeeper Laura Shane recorded 10 saves, two in the final minute.

The Cardinal travel to Nashville next weekend, where they will meet No. 5 Duke and No. 16 Vanderbilt on Saturday and Monday.

Against Colgate, juniors Sarah Bach and Megan Burker each scored four goals to lead Stanford.
Wrestling

Third-seeded Matt Gentry lost two straight sudden victory decisions and Imad Kharbush also lost two matches on the second day of competition at the NCAA tournament in St. Louis and were eliminated.

Gentry, the defending champion at 157 pounds, leaves Stanford with the only national championship in the school's history, and he holds the all-time win record for the Cardinal.

Gentry and Kharbush (174 pounds) won twice during the first day to advance.
Softball

Stanford beat the rain, and Utah, 6-0, on Sunday in the weather-shortened Stanford Round Robin tournament on Sunday.

The Cardinal (19-3) lost to Princeton, 2-0, earlier in the game after having two games rained out on Saturday.

Stanford had a 45-minute rain delay before knocking off the Utes as Meghan Sickler and Erin Howe each hit a home run.

Freshman Becky McCullough (4-0) picked up the win for Stanford, allowing only one hit over six innings of work with eight strikeouts.

Stanford hosts Hawaii at 5 p.m. and St. Mary's at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Women's gymnastics

Stanford junior Natalie Foley placed second in the all-around and freshman Tabitha Yim placed first on the uneven bars and balance beam as Stanford finished second in a tri meet at San Jose State on Friday night.

The host Spartans won the meet with a score of 194.325, while the Cardinal had 192.750, and California scored 176.450.

The Cardinal took first place on vault, as Foley and freshman Stephanie Gentry tied with San Jose State's Michelle Minotti for first place.

Stanford travels to Berkeley for the Pac-10 championship on Saturday. The Cardinal are the defending Pac-10 champion.
Women's crew

Stanford's first varsity and second varsity each rowed to victories over the University of British Columbia on Sunday at Redwood Shores.

Stanford finished with a one boat length lead in first varsity. The second varsity eight held a one length led at the 500 meter point when the UBC boat entered into the Cardinal's lane. Despite being hit by the UBC shell the Cardinal pushed ahead to win by over 20 seconds.
Women's tennis

Stanford's match against visiting Pepperdine was canceled due to wet weather on Sunday.

The top-ranked Cardinal are at UNLV on Wednesday.

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