April 13, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Stanford: no reason to panic

by Rick Eymer

o one was ready to push the panic button even after the Stanford baseball team had dropped a doubleheader to visiting Oregon State in excruciating fashion on Saturday.

All it took was some timely hitting and clutch pitching to set the 14th-ranked Cardinal on the road back toward Omaha.

Stanford (4-2, 19-11) won, 4-3, on Sunday to salvage one of the three-game set with the resurgent Beavers, who moved ahead of the Cardinal in this week's national rankings.

No. 11 Oregon State overcame deficits in both games to win, 9-7 and 11-10, on Saturday.

Stanford travels to Arizona State for an important three-game set beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Cardinal is a game back in the loss column behind both Oregon State and No. 6 Arizona and needs a good effort in Tempe to stay in the hunt for its third straight Pac-10 title.

"We need this momentum to go forward into Arizona State," Stanford right-hander Matt Manship said. "You cannot get swept in conference. That's the key."

Sunday's effort was particularly good for the psyche of the Cardinal pitching staff, which was uncharacteristically roughed up on Saturday.

Stanford starters Mark Romanczuk and Jeff Gilmore were touched for 14 runs on 18 hits in 11 1-3 innings in the doubleheader loss. Their nerves may have been rattled a bit but neither has lost any confidence.

"You don't lose confidence in starters who have been so consistent the past two years," said Stanford second baseman Jed Lowrie, who singled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh and has a team-high 42 RBI. "You stay with them. Romanczuk and Gilmore are our guys."

Stanford's top two pitchers are a combined 10-4 this season and 43-11 for their careers.

Even with their sub-par efforts, Stanford had a chance in each game. The Cardinal erased a 5-0 deficit in the first game and took a 7-5 lead into the eighth.

Stanford led 9-2 after three innings in the second game.

Relief pitchers Blake Holler (two runs on four hits in 1 1-3 innings) and Greg Reynolds (four runs on five hits in 2 2-3 innings) took the losses.

Holler (6-1) came back on Sunday to record the win with 3 2-3 shutout innings.

"We needed to show the Stanford pitching staff has what it takes to shut people down," Holler said. "It was tough coming back the second day but I wanted to come back with something extra."

Holler and Manship both pitched on consecutive days and combined with Nolan Gallagher (2 1-3 innings on Saturday) to extend the bullpen's streak of scoreless innings to 7 1-3 -- striking out 10 and walking three during that span.

"From here on out it's a dogfight," Holler said. "Any sweep is huge and avoiding a sweep is huge. Anything we can take at Arizona State would be great."

The Sun Devils fell out of the national rankings after dropping two of three to host Cal over the weekend. Stanford still knows Arizona State is dangerous.

"It's an important series, especially on the road," Lowrie said. "There's a little more incentive on the road. It's three weeks into the Pac-10 and you don't really want to say it but this will be a big weekend. It will determine a lot."

A series sweep would keep Stanford in the forefront, and winning two of three would be fine. The Cardinal can't afford to lose the series or they could find themselves buried in the lower half of the standings.

Lowrie drove in two runs on Sunday while John Hester collected two hits.

Adam Sorgi walked to open the seventh and moved to second on Chris Minaker's sacrifice bunt, setting up Lowrie's heroics.

The win helped the Cardinal avoid its first sweep at Sunken Diamond since Arizona State won three straight April 11-13, 1997.

Jim Rapoport singled in the fourth and has hit safely in a career-high nine straight and 15 of 16 overall.

Manship recorded his 13th career save to move into a tie for sixth on Stanford's all-time list. He has now not allowed a run in 11 1-3 innings over nine appearances.

Chris Lewis hit a grand slam in the fourth inning of Saturday's first game to help Stanford overcome its early deficit. Minaker's home run in the seventh gave Stanford a 7-5 edge.

Hester hit a home run and drove in three runs in helping Stanford grab the early lead in the second game. John Mayberry Jr. also drove in three runs.

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