Pitching was the special of the day Monday at Packard Stadium, and No. 6 Stanford had a little more of it during a 4-2 win over No. 2 ASU.
Senior catcher Ryan Garko had four hits for Stanford including a game-winning two-run home run over the centerfield wall to break a 2-2 tie in the eighth and give Stanford a two-games-to-one advantage in the first Pac-10 series of the year for both teams.
After playing two-consecutive extra-inning contests, both teams' bullpens were a little depleted. Stepping to the forefront for Stanford was freshman Mark Romanczuk. The southpaw threw a complete-game five-hitter to earn his sixth victory of the season.
"I emphasize attack," Romanczuk said. "The most important thing is throwing strike one and getting the first hitter out. If they have a good day and they're hitting me around, they deserve it."
ASU mustered just one hit in the final four innings of the game, as Romanczuk retired 13 of the final 14 Sun Devil hitters he faced, allowing the Cardinal to come back from a 2-1 deficit.
"My arm started to get looser as the game went on, and especially in the last inning my fastball felt better than in the first inning," Romanczuk said.
On the other end, ASU right-hander Ben Thurmond pitched well in his longest outing of the season. The senior allowed the leadoff man on base in all seven innings he started, but managed to work through the trouble for most of the night, stranding five Cardinal runners on base.
"They're a good hitting team and I was throwing from the stretch a lot," Thurmond said. "You just try to hit your spots and hope your defense will make a play."
All in all, Stanford had their leadoff man on base in eight of the nine innings.
"Getting the leadoff hitter out is crucial, it's part of the game," Murphy said. "You've got to give credit to Stanford. They played lights-out defense all weekend, they didn't walk anybody today and didn't give up any extra bases."
Stanford jumped on top 1-0 in its half of the third frame thanks to a leadoff triple by junior center fielder Sam Fuld. After Brian Hall and Carlos Quentin both failed to drive Fuld home, Garko came through with a two-out single to right field. The four-hit night in as many plate appearances for Garko broke an 0-for-9 slump during the first two games of the series.
The Sun Devils responded promptly with single runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, it was junior center fielder Andre Ethier's double to right that brought home Dennis Wyrick to knot things at 1-1. In the fifth, sophomore catcher Tuffy Gosewisch hit a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Rod Allen after his one-out triple.
Stanford answered the call once again in the seventh when Fuld capped a 4-for-5 day with his second triple, bringing home Tobin Swope to even the game at 2-2 before Garko's blast in the eighth won it.
"Fuld's a great hitter and he's been lighting us up all weekend," Thurmond said of Fuld, who collected eight hits in the final two games of the series. "You make great pitches and [Fuld] just sees it well. You've got to tip your cap to a good hitting team."
Notes: ASU wrestlers were honored between innings during the game. Senior Eric Larkin and head coach Thom Ortiz were recognized for a successful season and Larkin's national championship.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
