No. 1 Stanford Baseball Edges Santa Clara, 7-5

Gerut's homer breaks 2-2 tie

Jan. 24, 1998

STANFORD, CA --- Junior Jody Gerut (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook HS) hit a two-run homer to lead No. 1 Stanford University (2-0) to a 7-5 win over visiting Santa Clara University (0-2) on Saturday afternoon at Sunken Diamond. Gerut, who also had three doubles in Friday's 15-2 win over the Broncos, went 5-for-10 with four runs scored and six RBI in the two-game series.

Gerut's two-run shot broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the third inning. Sophomore Craig Thompson (Dallas, TX/Lake Highlands HS) led off with a double and Gerut followed with the two-run shot to right-center field that gave Stanford the lead for good.

The Cardibnal built the lead to 7-2 thanks to 4.1 innings of effective relief by winning pitcher Chad Hutchinson (Del Mar, CA/Torrey Pines HS), but the Broncos came back with three in the bottom of the seventh on five hits. Pinch-hitter Matt Giannini (Danville, CA/Monte Vista HS) capped the rally with a run-scoring single that cut it to 7-5, but the Broncos would get no closer the rest of the way.

Stanford returns to action on Friday when it visits No. 20 Fresno State at 7 p.m. in the first of a three-game series. Santa Clara next hosts Pacific on Tuesday, February 3 at 3 p.m.

                                R  H   E
Santa Clara 101  000  300  ---  5  11  1
Stanford    022  012  00x  ---  7  11  0

Crudale, Rice (5), Detrick (6), Battigan (8), Ampi (8) and Laubach; Hoard, Hutchinson (3), Coose (7), Cogan (8) and Salter. WP - Hutchinson (1-0). LP - Crudale (0-1). SV - Cogan (1). 2B - Hughes (SC), Thompson (STAN), Pecci (STAN). 3B - Okimoto (SC). HR - Muth (STAN) 2nd inning, none on; Gerut (STAN) 3rd inning, one on. Records - Santa Clara 0-2, Stanford 2-0.