April 28, 2000

Box Score

STANFORD, CA - Stanford third baseman John Gall dropped a Clint Hoover pop-up with two outs in the top of the 11th inning, allowing Mike Tonis and Xavier Nady to score and help Cal to a 7-5 victory over the No. 4 ranked Cardinal Friday night at Sunken Diamond. The Bears, who played in their eighth extra-inning game of the year (5-3), improved their record to 24-22 overall and 10-9 in the Pac-10, while Stanford fell to 32-11 and 11-5 in league.

The excitement of the top of the 11th began for Cal when Tonis hit a two-out single to left off of Cardinal reliever Jeff Bruksch (2-3, 2.7 innings, three hits, two unearned runs, one walk, three strikeouts). Xavier Nady follwed with a double to left-center, but the hit did not score Tonis. Hoover then hit a high pop-up that was dropped by Gall, allowing the winning runs to score.

The winning pitcher for the Bears was reliever Rob Meyer (3-0), who pitched the final 3.0 innings with one hit, no runs and four walks. Meyer was able to get out of a one out and bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 10th inning and then with runners on second and third in the 11th inning, got Chris O'Riorden to fly out to center to end the game. Meyer had thrown 11 pitches to O'Riorden, who had fouled off several pitches before flying out to Nick Medrano.

Meyer's pitching performance was a redemption of sorts as in the seventh inning he had misplayed a fly ball hit by Eric Bruntlett to center field that allow two runs to score and get Stanford within 5-3. The Cardinal had scored a run in the first inning on an RBI single by Edmund Muth off of Cal starter Trevor Hutchinson (7.7 innings, 11 hits, five runs, three walks, five strikeouts). The Bears came back when Tonis hit a solo home run in the fourth inning off of Stanford starter Jason Young (8.3 innings, eight hits, four earned runs, three walks, six strikeouts).

Cal took a 4-1 lead by scoring three runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by David Weiner and a two-run single by Tonis. The Bears added another run in the fifth on a wild pitch by Young, allowing Jason Williams to score. The Cardinal came back to tie the game, 5-5, in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run homer by Andy Topham off of Hutchinson.

Tonis was Cal's leading hitter, going 3-for-6 with a home run and three RBI. Bruntlett and Muth each had three hits for Stanford.

"This is the type of game that we would have lost earlier in the season," said Bear coach David Esquer, who played at Stanford from 1984-87. "The team showed great fighting spirit. There is no chance we would have won if we would have let down, but we didn't let down and it showed."

Cal will next play the second game of the three-game series versus Stanford, Saturday, Apr. 29 at 2 p.m. at Stanford's Sunken Diamond.

Home Runs: California: Tonis, solo home run in the fourth inning.

Stanford: Topham, two-run homer in the eighth inning.