After last weekend, Stanford baseball needed a winning streak in the worst way. One day after just avoiding a sweep at home — breaking its streak of 12-straight three-game series wins and dropping out of the top 10 — the Cardinal (30-18-2) welcomed Santa Clara (32-19) to Sunken Diamond for the season finale between the two South Bay schools and the final regular-season home game for Stanford.

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Jeff Keacher.

Jake Schlander and an improved Cardinal defense have been key to Stanford’s turnaround this season after a disappointing .500 finish in 2007. Stanford routed Santa Clara on Monday, 15-4.

The Broncos had lost the first two meetings before edging the Cardinal 10-9 in Santa Clara two weeks ago, but they came into Monday fresh off a sweep of Saint Mary’s and were 6-2 since they last faced the Cardinal. Stanford had a taken a different road, going 4-4 while sliding in the rankings from No. 3 to 14.

Early in the game, both teams seemed to continue on their respective paths. The Broncos put up four runs in the third inning, capitalizing on a throwing error by freshman third baseman Zach Jones and getting a few singles together off junior starter Max Fearnow and senior reliever David Stringer.

Meanwhile, Broncos starter Justin Kuhen was cruising, allowing just one hit and no runs through the first three innings. The Cardinal men found their bats in the fourth, though, and it was all Stanford from then on.

Junior Brent Milleville led off the inning with a homer — his third in four days — to make it 4-1. Senior Randy Molina batted next and drew a walk, bringing junior Sean Ratliff to the plate. After being shut down by the Bears all weekend, Ratliff broke out and smoked his 16th homer to make it 4-3. Kuhen settled down and escaped the inning, but his night was over.

Santa Clara went to its bullpen in the fifth, bringing in Alex Rivers. Unfortunately for Rivers, the fifth has been Stanford’s inning all year.

Before a single out had been recorded, the Cardinal had notched four hits, including a three-run home run from junior Jason Castro, to make it 6-4. Rivers then struck out Ratliff, but Jones delivered a bases-loaded two-RBI double to make it 8-4. Rivers was then pulled for Matt Renner, but the Cardinal was not finished yet, as junior Joey August added a two-RBI single to make it 10-4 Stanford.

“It is amazing the way these hitters always get their bats going,” said Stringer. “We have a huge amount of confidence in all of them, and it is always enjoyable to watch them rounding the bases.”

With the seven-run fifth, Stanford has now outscored its opponents 91-43 in the fifth and has scored almost 25 percent of all its runs in that frame. All seven runs were charged to Rivers, who only recorded one out.

Stanford rode singles from August, Castro, Milleville, Molina and Jones to five more in the seventh, and the bullpen kept the Broncos quiet the rest of the way. Stringer went 2.2 shutout innings to get the win while freshman Danny Sandbrink also tossed 3.1 scoreless innings. Senior Rex Petrill got the final two outs.

“I got a little emotional during batting practice today when I realized this could be my last game at Sunken,” said Petrill. “It was great to get the win because it is all about winning.”

Petrill feels good about this team, which he compares favorably to good Stanford teams of the past.

“We are a family out there. This team reminds me of the good chemistry and leadership we had two years ago when we reached the Super Regionals. I expect good things the rest of this year.”

If the squad can mix in a few more games like this one, those expectations seem very realistic. Five Stanford batters finished with multiple hits, and Molina and Milleville each had three. Castro and Jones each recorded four RBIs while Ratliff and Milleville had two.

With the win, Stanford finished its home season at 20-10 and has yet to record a losing season at Sunken Diamond. The Cardinal next plays this weekend in Tucson, Ariz., when it takes on Arizona.