April 25, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - The hot bat of Brent Milleville continued to punish opposing pitching and Stanford starter Austin Yount silenced the bats of Troy as the No. 5 Cardinal (24-12-2, 9-4 Pac-10) blanked USC (19-21, 6-7 Pac-10), 4-0, in Friday night's series opener at Klein Field. Milleville went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI, bringing his average over this week's three games to .539 (7-for-13), while Yount collected his second victory of the year.
Both teams will return to action Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Klein Field. Saturday will also see the dedication of Klein Field At Sunken Diamond, as Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics Bob Bowlsby and Deputy Director of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Ray Purpur, along with the Klein Family, will be on hand for the dedication ceremony which is set to begin at 12:45 p.m. The field will be named for former Stanford baseball standout Bud Klein '50.
Friday night, the Stanford bats struck early, producing the game's only four runs within the first three frames. The Cardinal got its first run with two away in its first time at bat, as following flyouts from Cord Phelps and Brendan Domaracki, Jason Castro singled to center then scored all the way from first as Milleville pulled a double down the left-field line.
Yount worked his way out of a small jam in the second, as USC's Derek Perren led off with a double, and advanced to third on a wild pitch three batters later. With Anthony Vasquez then drawing a walk to put men at the corners, Yount buckled down and got Robert Stock to end the inning by flying out to left.
Stanford got the rest of its runs in the third inning, as Justin Schlander got on to start the inning after being hit by a pitch. Phelps' single to center put two on, but Domaracki pushed his bunt a little too hard, allowing Trojan starter Tommy Milone to force Schlander at third. Jason Castro's flyout to left left the Cardinal only one out to spare in a situation begging to be capitalized upon.
And the Cardinal would capitalize, thanks to the bat of Milleville. The junior laced an opposite-field double down the right-field line, plating Phelps and Domaracki. Milleville would in turn be driven in on Randy Molina's RBI single to left-center. Molina went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the contest.
Yount settled into a nice groove from that point, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters he faced, only issuing a walk to Roberto Lopez in the sixth. Lopez was subsequently forced out as Milleville set in motion a 3-6-3 double play off the bat of Grant Green.
With one out in the eighth, Yount retired after Stock reached base on an error. In his longest outing of the season, Yount went seven and one-third scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and striking out a batter to even his record at 2-2.
Drew Storen came on in relief, and after being welcomed to the contest by Joe De Pinto's single to right, settled in and retired the final five USC batters in order to sew up the win.
Milone, whose record drops to 5-3 with the loss, pitched a complete game, allowing four runs on nine hits and striking out seven.