June 17, 1999
OMAHA, Neb. - Sam Scott delivered at the plate and Zach Diaz did it onthe mound.
Scott's towering two-run homer capped Florida State's four-run sixth inningand the Seminoles rallied to beat Stanford 8-6 on Thursday night in the CollegeWorld Series.
The Seminoles (56-13) forced a rematch Friday with the Cardinal (50-14).Both teams have one loss in their double-elimination bracket, and the survivorwill play Miami in Saturday's championship.
Stanford brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
After reliever Diaz (4-1) walked leadoff hitter John Gall, he got JoeBorchard to foul out, popped Josh Hochgesang out to first and got DamienAlvarado to ground to second for the force.
Diaz faced 14 batters in 4.1 innings. While he had just one strikeout, hethrew effectively and retired six in a row at one point.
"I'd like to say I was getting ahead early, but that didn't happen a lot ofthe time," Diaz said. "I was just trying to throw a lot of fastballs.Fortunately when they did hit it hard, it was at someone."
Florida State came back from a 6-2 deficit, tying it on Scott's shot intothe right field bleachers. Reliever Mike Wodnicki left a fastball too high andScott hit it high and deep.
"I was just looking for something," Scott said. "I wanted to hit the ballhard and just get it up in the air."
The Seminoles celebrated in their dugout and greeted Scott at the plate.
"I think any time you're dealing with young men, age 18 to 22, the emotionsare a roller coaster," Florida State coach Mike Martin said. "Gosh, we're onegame from playing for the whole enchilada. So yes, I think we were a little bitmoody when we were down four runs."
Before that, the Seminoles struggled to find their offense, going 0-for-10with runners in scoring position to that point.
"We had our chances," Martin said. "I think there you just creditStanford. They made some extremely good pitches. I was incredibly pleased withthe fight our ball club showed."
Wodnicki replaced right-hander Brian Sager with runners on first and secondand no outs. Marshall McDougall welcomed him with a double off the wall incenter to score the inning's first two runs.
Pinch-hitter Karl Jernigan put the Seminoles ahead for good in the seventh.With no outs and runners on first and second, he hit into a double play thatbrought in Brett Groves, who led off with a double to left.
Matt Diaz, who is Zach's brother, added a double off the center field wallto score McDougall from first, making it 8-6.
"He was trying to come inside," Matt Diaz said. "I was thankful for thatbecause I was looking for a fastball. I hit it good, but I didn't think it wasgoing out."
For a change, the Seminoles are sticking around Omaha. While Florida Statehas made 18 trips to the College World Series, it's only the sixth time theSeminoles have won more than twice.
It's also Florida State's longest stay since 1989. Four times during the1990s the Seminoles had a 1-2 record and twice went 0-2.
"It's a shame we can't enjoy this for a long period of time," Martin said."That was obviously a great win for us, but we know tomorrow is now the mostimportant game."
Diaz replaced starter Nick Stocks in the fifth, inheriting a bases-loaded,two-out situation that the Cardinal turned into a 6-2 lead after EricBruntlett's sharp grounder past third produced two runs.
Although Stanford was ahead, coach Mark Marquess said he didn't relax.
"I don't think you feel comfortable at this stage against a qualityopponent," Marquess said. "You look at the numbers, you know they'redangerous and you know they can hit. So, no, we didn't feel comfortable."
Stocks, a first-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, went 4 2-3innings, allowing six hits, two walks, hitting two and striking out two. Halfof his six runs were unearned.
Sager, a freshman who rejected a $1 million signing bonus from the ArizonaDiamondbacks to attend Stanford, threw into the sixth, when the Cardinal's runof dominant pitching in Omaha ended.
The Seminoles should have scored more. They stranded 16 runners, nine inscoring position.
Dan Rich (3-1) came in after Wodnicki threw 11 pitches and got one out. Richlasted 1 1-3 innings, allowing the go-ahead runs.
By TIM KORTE
AP Sports Writer