June 5, 1999
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford pitcher Justin Wayne struck out 12 USC batters to lead the Cardinal to a 5-3 victory and an 11th trip to the College World Series. Stanford advances with a record of 48-13, while the Trojans finish their season with a 36-26 record.
Wayne continued last night's pitching battle with eight innings of work, giving up just two runs while striking out 12 batters. Wayne's single season total of 131 strikeouts is sixth in the Stanford record book.
The game was scoreless going into the third when Stanford's Nick Day singled and Edmund Muth walked. DH Craig Thompson drove in two runs on a double, followed by an RBI from Jeff Rizzo. The Cardinal led 3-0 before the Trojans got a man on base in the top of the fourth, as Wayne retired USC in order through the first three innings. In the fourth, shortstop Seth Davidson's triple halted Wayne's no hitter and eventually allowed the Trojans to put a run on the board behind a single from second baseman Dominic Correa.
In the sixth, the Trojans brought the game within one as catcher Eric Munson hit a line drove home run into right field. However, the Cardinal rallied in the seventh with two runs from Day and Muth, bringing Stanford's lead to 5-2. The Trojan effort was not done as Stanford closer Tony Cogan gave up a double to Carlos Casillas to lead off the ninth. Casillas advanced to third on a wild pitch and was driven home on Beau Craig's ground out. Cogan then retired first baseman Justin Gemoll on a ground out to wrap up the game.
The Cardinal will travel to Omaha next week for its third appearance in the CWS in the last five years. The last trip to Omaha for Stanford was in 1997, when the Cardinal tied for third. Stanford has won two NCAA Championships, in 1987 and 1998.
Stanford 003 000 200 5 6 0 USC 000 101 001 3 6 3
WP - Wayne 9-1 LP - Lehr 7-3 2B - Thompson, Rizzo (Stanford); C. Casillas (USC) 3B - Day, Muth (Stanford); Davidson (USC) HR - Munson (USC) Battery: Wayne and Cogan. Lehr and Smyth.
USC HEAD COACH MIKE GILLESPIE
"Once again I certainly felt like we ran into outstanding pitching. I'm pleased with the way our guys pitched. The way they both pitched wins most games. I think it's a real credit to their pitching for us to have been held down like this. We can really swing it."
"They played mistake-free. On a very short list this is one of the best teams in the country, if not the best, and they'll be a great representative of our conference in Omaha. It's not a stretch to suggest they'll be the ones standing at the end. But we're really proud of how our guys played and I don't think we have anything to hang out heads about."
C ERIC MUNSON
(On Stanford's pitching)
"They shut us down. We think we have a pretty good lineup, but good pitching will do that to good hitting. I think our pitching was just as good if not better, but they didn't give up many back-to-back base hits and pitched out of problems. Our bats just got cold at the wrong time."
(On Justin Wayne)
"He made great pitches and sometimes there's not too much you can do about that."
STANFORD HEAD COACH MARK MARQUESS
"Obviously we're thrilled and it was a great pitching performance. Justin had a fantastic pitching performance against a great USC team. They're very potent and a good offensive team. We didn't really hit the ball last week or last night but it is indicative of our team - it was the bottom part of our lineup that did it. It's a real special team because it hasn't been just 4 or 5 guys, it's been 14 or 15, both pitchers and position players.
(On this year's young team, and if he thought at the beginning of the year they had a chance to go to the World Series)
"Two-thirds of our innings pitched last year were gone. I had my one senior coming back and he is a relief pitcher. I thought that we had better depth on our staff this year but they were young. A lot of credit goes to (pitching coach) Tom Dunton for developing this young staff. Offensively I thought we'd be solid, and if the young pitchers can come of age we'd get an at-large bid and maybe get hot. I thought our real accomplishment this year was winning the league."
Pitcher JUSTIN WAYNE
(On his three strikeouts of Jason Lane)
"I was just going with mostly fastballs. He probably thought that I'd go slider. I stayed with the hard stuff mostly, with some off-speed.
Catcher DAMIEN ALVARADO
(On the Stanford pitching)
"Jason last night got back to the form he had at the beginning of the year, throwing all three pitches for strikes, and he's really tough when he does that. Justin today last weekend he was keeping the ball down, but today he was throwing the fastball by those guys. For those guys to keep pitching the way they are, if our offense can click we have a great chance in Omaha."