May 29, 2005
Los Angeles, Calif. - Pinch-hitter Dale Legaspi's bases loaded suicide squeeze bunt with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning scored pinch-runner Spencer Pabst with the game-winning run as No. 24 USC (37-19, 15-9 Pac-10) pulled out a 4-2 victory over Stanford (32-23, 12-12 Pac-10) in the regular season finale for both clubs Sunday at Dedeaux Field. The Trojan win gave USC the series victory over the Cardinal, snapping Stanford's strings of eight straight season series wins and seven consecutive regular season three-game series victories against USC.
Stanford tied for sixth-place in the final Pac-10 standings with Washington, who also finished 12-12 in conference action. Oregon State (19-5 Pac-10) won the league title while Arizona (17-7 Pac-10) took second. Arizona State and USC tied for third with 15-9 records followed by fifth-place California (13-11 Pac-10). UCLA (4-20 Pac-10) and Washington State (1-23 Pac-10) were eighth and ninth.
The entire 64-team field, top eight national seeds, first round regional pairings and site assignments for the 2005 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship will be announced live on ESPN2 during a half-hour television program on Monday, May 30 (8:30 am, PT). Stanford has qualified for the NCAA's postseason event for 11 consecutive seasons and 25 times overall.
The regional sites for the 2005 tournament were revealed on Sunday and Stanford was not selected as one of the 16 sites for the first time since 1995, ending a run of nine straight seasons (1996-2004) as a Regional host.
A complete list of regional hosts (and locations) are as follows: Arizona State (Tempe, Ariz.); Baylor (Waco, Tex.); Cal State Fullerton (Fullerton, Calif.); Clemson (Clemson, South Carolina); Florida (Gainesville, Fla.); Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.); Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Ga.); Louisiana State (Baton Rouge, La.); Long Beach State (Long Beach, Calif.); Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.); Mississippi (Oxford, Miss.); Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.); Oregon State (Corvallis, Ore.); Tennessee (Knoxville, Tenn.); Texas (Austin, Tex.); and Tulane (New Orleans, LA). All regional sites are on campus.
Sunday's contest was tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth but Cyle Hankerd started USC's game-winning rally with a leadoff single by grounding a ball through the right side of the Cardinal infield. Baron Frost moved Pabst to second after he pinch-ran for Hankerd. Matt Cusick then singled to left but Pabst was held up at third, keeping the game tied at 2-2. Gallagher then hit Hector Estrella to load the bases before being replaced by Matt Manship. The Trojans tried the squeeze play on a 2-1 pitch but Legaspi fouled a ball off before executing on the next pitch by getting the ball on the ground between the pitchers' mound and first base. Manship raced over to field the ball but had no play at the plate and Legaspi was credited with an RBI single when Manship did not throw to first. USC added an insurance run when Adam Sorgi made an errant throw to the plate after Darin Vieira's grounder to the Cardinal third baseman. The Cardinal finally got out of the inning when Blake Sharpe popped into a bases loaded double play while trying to squeeze home another Trojan run.
Stanford got the go-ahead run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth after Sorgi and John Mayberry, Jr. drew walks in the inning off Goss but Michael Friedman came on and got Jed Lowrie to pop up to Hector Estrella at second base to end the game.
Hankerd (3-4) was the only USC player with more than one hit, while Jeff Clement drove in the first two USC runs with his second homer in as many days in the third.
Michael Taylor (2-4) and Chris Lewis (2-4) both had a pair of hits for Stanford, while Chris Minaker extended his career-high hit streak to 13 games with a fifth inning double and Ryan Seawell blasted a seventh inning homer that tied the contest at 2-2.
Goss (3-1) was credited with the victory, holding Stanford scoreless in 1.2 innings of work after relieving starter Jack Spradlin (7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO) to start the eighth. Friedman was credited with the save by getting the final out of the game.
Gallagher (1-5) suffered the loss for Stanford despite giving up just two runs (one earned) in a career-high-tying 5.0 innings of work and his longest relief outing of the season. Blake Holler (2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) started for Stanford on the hill.
Stanford took an early 1-0 lead in the contest when Taylor, Lewis and Jim Rapoport got the Cardinal a run in the top of the second with three consecutive two-out singles.
USC went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third when Clement blasted his two-run homer down the right field line. Vieira, who had walked to lead off the inning two batters earlier, also scored his long homer.Stanford tied the game at 2-2 on Seawell's one-out homer in the seventh that hit high off the netting over the left field fence.
STANFORD NOTES
Chris Minaker extended his career-best hit streak to 13 games with a fifth inning double that increased his team-leading total to 23 (tied for fifth on Stanford's all-time list in that category)
Chris Minaker hit eight doubles in six games versus USC in 2005
Stanford maintained a .978 fielding percentage that ranks fourth in the nation and is one percentage point better than the school record of .977 set by the 2001 club
Stanford's pitching staff has an updated 3.83 season ERA as the Cardinal is looking to record an ERA under 4.00 for the fourth time in the last six campaigns
Stanford had strings of eight straight season series and seven consecutive regular season three-game series wins against the Trojans by losing (the Cardinal would have extended both strings with a victory on Sunday)
Stanford's defense tied a season-high by turning three double plays in the contest for the sixth time this year
Stanford's two-run loss marked the 26th time a Stanford game was decided by two runs or less in 2005 with the Cardinal able to post just a 10-16 record in those contests
Stanford had five players - Jed Lowrie (2B), Chris Lewis (LF/RF), John Mayberry, Jr. (1B), Chris Minaker (SS) and Adam Sorgi (3B) - start all 55 of the team's regular season games with Mayberry and Minaker playing every regular season inning at their respective positions