May 13, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Leading 13-10 heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers gave up four runs as Stanford came back for a ninth inning rally and won 14-13 on Wednesday, May 13.
With the loss the Tigers fell to 18-29 on the year, while the Cardinal improved to 27-21 with its second consecutive walk-off victory in the last two nights.
During the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, Tiger relievers held Stanford to one hit and scoreless relief. The hurlers who contributed to this effort were sophomore Thomas Berolzheimer (Stockton, Calif.), junior Jamie Niley (Elk Grove, Calif.) and senior Mark McCain (Dallas, Texas). They each combined for three strikeouts.
On offense the Tigers traded the lead back and forth with Stanford, out-scoring the Cardinal after the second, third and fifth innings for half of the inning. The longest lead either team recorded was when the Tigers went up from the seventh until the top of the ninth. Before the seventh, both of the teams went run-for-run, switching off the lead, even mirroring each other with scoreless half innings in the sixth.
Down by two in the top of the second, freshman Brett Christopher (Livermore, Calif.) recorded the first triple and first extra-base hit of his career to plate senior Kurt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.) for the first Tiger run of the game. Christopher then came around to score to tie the game at 2-2 on a throwing error by center fielder Joey August. However the Tigers would only hold onto the lead for that half of the inning.
Down 3-2 in the top of the third, Wideman launched his 22nd double of 2009, setting a new record for single season doubles in Pacific history. He doubled down the right field line to drive in senior Joey Centanni (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore J.B. Brown (Alvin, Texas) giving the Tigers a momentary 4-3 lead.
Pacific scored two runs in the second, third, and eighth innings, one in the fourth, and three in the fifth and seventh to round out 13 runs off of 17 hits. The Tigers were led by Wideman who went a perfect 4-for-4 with five RBI off two singles, a double and a homerun. Junior Ben Gorang (Turlock, Calif.) also went yard for Pacific.
Pacific next returns to action for the final 2009 Big West Conference series against Cal State Northridge beginning Friday, May 15. The Tigers hit the road to Southern California with Friday's first pitch set for 3 p.m.
