April 30, 2000

Box Score

STANFORD, CA - Damien Alvarado hit a first pitch fastball over the right field fence off of Rob Meyer to lead-off the bottom of the ninth inning and give No. 4 ranked Stanford to a 12-11 victory over Cal Sunday afternoon at Sunken Diamond. The Bears, who defeated the Cardinal, 7-5 in 11 innings Friday night but lost 10-6 Saturday, fall to 24-24 overall and 10-11 in the Pac-10, while Stanford improves to 34-11 and 13-5 in league.

Meyer (3-1, 0.7 innings, one hit, one run, no walks, one strikeout) had gotten Cal out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth inning when he replaced Andrew Sproul with one out and runners on first and second by striking out John Gall and getting Chris O'Riordan to hit into a fielder's choice. He then was involved in a controversial play in the top of the ninth. Meyer walked with one out, but then was called out when the third base umpire said he didn't touch second base when he returned to first base on Jason William's line-out to left field, thus ending the inning.

The winning pitcher for Stanford was its fifth reliever, Ryan McCally (1-0, 1.7 innings, no hits, no runs, one walk), who got the final two outs of the eighth inning and pitched the ninth.

The game went back and forth with neither team's pitching staff able to stop the other team's offense. The Cardinal had a 5-2 lead after three innings, but the Bears came back to take a 6-5 lead on an RBI single by Williams in the fourth inning and an RBI double by Mike Tonis and a two-run double by John Baker in the fifth inning. Stanford responded by scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-6 lead, but again the Bears tied the game, this time on an RBI single by Tommy Callen in the top of the sixth.

The Cardinal scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to take a 8-7 advantage. Clint Hoover kept Cal alive by hitting a one-out homer to center field in the top of the seventh. Stanford scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh off of Brad Steele. Yet, the Bears were able to come back again and take a brief 11-10 lead by scoring three more times in the top of the eighth on a lead-off home run by Williams, an RBI triple by Callen and an RBI single by Tonis.

Unfortunately for Cal, Andrew Sproul was not able to hold Stanford in the bottom of the eighth, giving up an RBI double to Edmund Muth to tie the game, 11-11, and setting up the game-winning homer by the Cardinal in the bottom of the ninth.

The Bears had 13 hits on the day, with Callen going 3-for-5 with a triple and four RBI, and Williams going 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Joe Borchard went 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI for the Cardinal.

Cal will next travel to San Francisco, Tuesday, May 2 at 2:30 p.m. at Benedetti Diamond. The Bears will then travel to UCLA for a three-game series, beginning Friday, May 5 at 7 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Home Runs: California: Hoover, solo home run in the seventh inning. Williams, solo home run in the eighth inning.

Stanford: Thompson, solo home run in the first inning, Borchard, three-run homer in the third. Borchard, solo home run in the seventh. Alvarado, solo home run in the ninth.