April 28, 2007
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Stanford, Calif. - Michael Taylor blasted a three-run walkoff homer with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift Stanford (18-22, 3-11 Pac-10) to a dramatic 9-7 upset victory over defending CWS champion and No. 8 Oregon State (33-8, 5-5 Pac-10) on a hot Saturday afternoon at Sunken Diamond. Taylor's shot down the left field line came on a 2-2 pitch with the Cardinal behind 7-6 and one strike away from defeat. Adam Sorgi (2-5, 3B, 3 RBI) and Taylor (2-6, HR, 3 RBI) both drove in three runs and had a pair of hits, while Jeff Whitlow (2-3, HR, RBI) and Toby Gerhart (2-4, 2B, RBI) added a pair of hits and one RBI each.
"We've had some things going against lately, so to finally make some big plays and actually come out of the game with a victory against a good ballclub is something that's very positive for us," said Taylor, who hit his first home run since going deep in back-to-back games against UCLA on March 30 and 31. "Having something positive happen like this just puts a good feeling in your stomach when you get to sleep at night and gets you excited about coming to the ballpark tomorrow."
"We got a big swing of the bat, and it was nice to get the win," added Marquess.
Taylor's dramatic home run came in his next at bat after he had grounded into a sharply hit inning-ending double play with the bases loaded and the score tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth.
"I hit the ball sharply, but I didn't get the job done in that situation and the bottom line is that's what it's really all about," commented Taylor. "I loved having the opportunity to get a chance to do it again in the 11th inning with two outs and have a chance to help our ballclub beat a team that's kind of had our number. I loved it and relished in it."
Oregon State had won six straight games against the Cardinal prior to Stanford's victory on Saturday.
Nolan Gallagher (3-5) picked up the win by limiting the Beavers to three runs over his long 5.0 inning relief stint despite allowing six hits and walking five. Gallagher also struck out five while pitching in relief of Stanford starter Jeffrey Inman (6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 SO).
"I've been used to going that type of distance most of the year," said Gallagher, who has been in the starting rotation for most of the season before making his last three appearances out of the bullpen.
Oregon State reliever Anton Maxwell (3-1) took his first loss of the season as he was charged with two of the three runs in the bottom of the 11th after allowing a leadoff single to Joey August and walking Sean Ratliff two batters later before he was removed in favor of Greg Keim (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER). Keim got the second out of the inning when August was called for interference going from second to third base on a Gerhart grounder to Beaver third baseman Lonnie Lechelt before giving up Taylor's game-winning blast.
Oregon State had taken a 7-6 lead in a topsy-turvy game when Jordan Lennerton led off the top of the 11th inning with his second solo homer of the contest.
Lennerton (3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI) led five Oregon State players with multiple-hit games as Joey Wong (2-4), Mitch Canham (2-5, 2B, 2 RBI), Chris Hopkins (2-5, 2 RBI) and Jason Ogata (2-5, 2B, RBI) added two hits each.
Oregon State closer Eddie Kunz was unable to record his ninth save of the season and second in as many games when Stanford rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 6-6 and send the contest into extra innings. Kunz was wild in the inning as he issued a pair of walks and hit another batter to contribute to the rally that had just one Stanford hit. Pinch-hitter Brendan Domaracki drew a leadoff walk before Kunz walked August two batters later to put runners on first and second with just one out. Pinch-hitter Randy Molina came up big with an RBI single up the middle to score Domaracki and cut the Oregon State margin to 6-5. Kunz then walked Ratliff to load the bases and hit Gerhart to force in August with the tying run before getting Taylor to hit into his inning-ending double play.
The Beavers had a rally going in the top of the 10th when Wong drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second by Hopkins. Ogata then walked to put runners on first and second with just one out and Canham followed with a single into right field that Taylor came up with on the run and threw out Wong trying to score on a bang-bang play at the plate to preserve the tie.
Stanford set the tone in the bottom of the first inning when Sorgi came up big with a two-out triple to score Gerhart and Taylor, who had singled back-to-back with two outs to start the rally.
Oregon State tied the game at 2-2 with two runs in the top of the second on a clutch two-out single from Hopkins after Inman had walked the bases loaded.
Stanford came right back with a run in the bottom of the second to go ahead, 3-2, when Whitlow hit his long two-out solo shot.
The Beavers tied the game at 3-3 on Lennerton's first homer with two outs and nobody on base in the third.
Stanford came right back to go ahead, 4-3, with one run in its half of the third when Sorgi came through again with an RBI single to score Ratliff, who had led off the inning with a single and moved to third when Gerhart was hit by a pitch and Taylor flew out deep to center field.
Oregon State answered right back with one run in the top of the fourth to tie the score at 4-4. Inman struck out the first two batters of the inning before back-to-back infield singles by Wong and Hopkins set the stage for Ogata, who came through with an RBI single through the left side of the infield.
The game remained tied 4-4 until Oregon State scored twice in the top of the eighth to take a 6-4 lead on a clutch two-out, two-RBI double by Canham after Wong had singled and Hopkins had drawn a walk earlier in the frame.
"This was a big win for us in a difficult game with a lot of ups and downs," said Marquess, who was ejected in the top of the 10th inning after arguing with the umpires. "I thought we came back a couple of times in some tough situations, and I was proud of that."
Stanford and Oregon State will conclude their current three-game series at Sunken Diamond on Sunday (12:30 pm, PT). Oregon State is slated to send RHP Jorge Reyes (2-0, 2.30) to the mound for Sunday's rubber game, while the Cardinal is scheduled to go with RHP Erik Davis (2-0, 4.15).
Tickets for the finale of the Oregon State series and all regular season Stanford Baseball home contests are available online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD. On game days, tickets may be purchased at the Sunken Diamond Ticket Office window beginning one hour before first pitch. For group ticket information (groups of 10 or more), call 650-725-2876.