May 6, 2007
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Pullman, Wash. - Pinch-hitter Simi Reynolds' one-out RBI double off the right field wall in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a tie and lifted Washington State (22-21, 5-12 Pac-10) to an 8-6 victory over Stanford (19-25, 4-13 Pac-10) to even a three-game Pac-10 series between the clubs Sunday at Bailey-Brayton Field.
Stanford let a 5-1 lead after three and a half innings slip away when the Cougars scored three times in the fourth before adding one in the fifth and sixth frames to go ahead, 6-5. Stanford tied the game at 6-6 on Sean Ratliff's clutch two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth but the Cougars answered with two runs in their half of the eighth to take the victory and put the Cardinal alone in the Pac-10 cellar.
Paul Gran (5-5, HR, 3 RBI), Travis Coulter (3-4, RBI) and Zach Borba (2-5, 3B, 2 RBI) combined for 10 of the Cougars' 13 hits and drove in six of their eight runs.
"We couldn't hold them," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "They got some big hits with guys on base today."
Adam Sorgi (3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI) equaled a season-best with his seventh three-hit game of the year, while he also had two doubles in a contest for the first time this season and on the third occasion in his career. Brendan Domaracki (2-3, 3 RBI) matched career-bests with a pair of hits and three RBI with the trio of RBI also a new season-high. Joey August (2-4) had Stanford's other multi-hit contest.
"It's extremely disappointing [to lose a game the way we did today]," said Sorgi. "Normally, I can say the other team did a really good job of putting pressure on us, which they did, but I feel like we let this one slip away. I think it was more on us that we lost this game than Washington State won the game. You have to give them credit where it's due, but I feel like we had the opportunities and should have come out of them better than we did today."
Washington State reliever Nick Cebula (1-0) earned the victory despite throwing just two pitches. Cebula came into the game with the score tied 6-6 and runners on first and third with two outs in the top of the eighth, and retired Michael Taylor on an inning-ending groundout to keep the contest tied. Ross Humes (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) pitched a scoreless ninth to record his 10th save of the season, finishing up the contest by striking out Brian Juhl for the final out with the Cardinal pinch-hitter at the plate as the tying run.
Stanford reliever Nolan Gallagher (3-6) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk with one strikeout over 3.0 innings after entering the game to begin the sixth frame with the contest tied 5-5. Gallagher, who also hit a career-high four batters, gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth to allow the Cougars to take their first lead of the game at 6-5 and then two more in Washington State's game-winning eighth inning rally.
Stanford got rolling early in the contest with a pair of runs in both the first and second innings to go ahead, 4-0.
August led off the game with a single and the Cardinal was in business with the bases loaded and no outs after Cougar starter Nick Ison (5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) hit Domaracki and Ratliff. August was forced out at home on a fielder's choice by Taylor but Sorgi came through with a clutch two-RBI double down the third base line to plate Domaracki and Ratliff.
A critical Washington State error contributed to Stanford's two second inning runs. Jason Castro walked to lead off the inning before Gran threw wildly to second base trying to retire Castro on Adam Gaylord's sacrifice bunt attempt. Gran's error left Cardinal runners on first and second with no outs and set up a sacrifice bunt by August that moved the runners to second and third base and set the stage for Domaracki, who bounced a two-run single up the middle to put Stanford ahead, 4-0.
Washington State got one run back in the third when Gran came through with a clutch two-out RBI single to score Matt Fanelli, who had struck out earlier in the inning but reached first base safely when the pitch he struck out on bounced in the dirt bounced by Castro to the backstop for a wild pitch charged to Stanford starter Jeremy Bleich (3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO). Fanelli moved into scoring position for Gran when Coulter beat out a two-out infield hit.
Stanford got the run right back with a single run in the fourth when Castro reached on an error by Cougar second baseman Jeff Miller to start the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Gaylord and scored following back-to-back singles from August that moved him to third and Domaracki that brought him home.
Washington State got back in the game with a three-run fourth. Miller led off with a double and Jared Lagreid walked to start the big inning before a double steal put the runners at second and third for Borba, who connected on a two-RBI triple off the glove of a running Ratliff in rightcenter field. Coulter ended Bleich's outing three batters later with an RBI single to score Borba before David Stringer (1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER) came on to preserve a slim one-run lead by picking Coulter off first base on a third-to-first move.
Stanford had a chance to open its lead back up in the top of the fifth when the Cardinal loaded the bases with just one out on a Sorgi single and a pair of walks before Ison got pinch-hitter Toby Gerhart to ground into a rally-killing 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.
The lead that Stringer preserved in the bottom of the fourth was gone just one pitch into the bottom of the fifth when Gran connected on a solo homer on the first pitch he saw to tie the game at 5-5.
Gallagher entered the contest to start the sixth and hit three of the first four batters he faced. The Cardinal got the second out of the inning when Ryan Krauser was thrown out trying to steal second after being the first of three consecutive batters hit by Gallagher, who proceeded to hit Cody Bartlett and Coulter before giving up an RBI single to Gran that scored Bartlett and gave Washington State a 6-5 advantage that was its first lead of the game.
Washington State reliever Jeremy Johnson (2.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) kept the Cardinal scoreless in the sixth and seventh frames before Ryan Seawell started an eighth inning rally by drawing a one-out walk. Steve Kost (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 SO) came on in relief of Johnson and struck out August for the second out before pinch-hitter Jeff Whitlow drew a walk to keep the inning alive for Ratliff, who smacked a single into leftcenter field to tie the game and end Kost's short outing before Cebula came on and kept the game tied by retiring Taylor.
Washington State's game-winning eighth inning rally started with back-to-back one-out singles by Coulter and Gran before Gallagher wild pitched the runners to second and third, setting the stage for Reynolds' game-winning double that only scored one run when Gran had to hold up and wait to see if Taylor was going to be able to catch the ball near the right field wall. Gran would end up scoring two batters later when Gaylord booted a potential inning-ending double play ball off the bat of Lagried, who was credited with an RBI fielder's choice.
Stanford was able to get the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth when Cord Phelps singled with two outs but Humes struck out Juhl looking to end the contest.
Stanford and Washington State will close out the series with a rubber game on Monday (12 pm, PT). Stanford is scheduled to go with RHP Erik Davis (2-1, 5.54) on the mound, while Washington State is slated to pitch LHP Jayson Miller (2-2, 3.80). Stanford needs a victory on Monday to snap series losing streaks of six straight overall and six in a row in the Pac-10, the latter of which extends back to the final conference series of the 2006 season.
"We have to what all great baseball players do, which is to find confidence from somewhere," offered Sorgi. "We have to dig deep within ourselves and find that confidence down in our soul somewhere. We need to come out tomorrow and give 100% effort and hopefully put together some pitching and defense, and hit in some timely spots. We want to come out with a victory and get our first Pac-10 series win."
The Cardinal will next return home to Sunken Diamond for a three-game set against Washington (Friday-Sunday, May 11-13, 6 pm, 1 pm, 1 pm, PT) with CSTV televising Sunday's series finale live. Tickets for the Washington series and all remaining 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.