March 30, 2013
PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State got the better bounces Saturday in a game which featured five lead changes and 22 hits to win the Pac-12 Conference baseball series finale with Stanford, 8-5. Despite the loss, the 23rd-ranked Cardinal (13-9 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) head home after conquering the series with wins on Thursday and Friday.
Washington State (16-10, 3-3) had four multi-run innings in the back-and-forth tilt Saturday at Bailey-Brayton Field.
Stanford returns to Sunken Diamond to face Cal at 7 p.m. (PT) on Monday. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
Austin Slater had quite the line with three hits, three RBI, one run, two doubles and one stolen base.
The first of two Cougar errors in the opening inning put Brian Ragira on base. Ragira got two bags on Wayne Taylor's chop single over the head of first baseman Brett Jacobs and scored when the Cougars misplayed Slater's routine grounder to second.
In his first career start, Marcus Brakeman was perfect through 1.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Brakeman finished with three strikeouts and gave up four earned runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings before Logan James stepped in. James went 2.1 innings and fanned a pair with four walks and saw his record drop to 0-2 after giving up two runs, one of which was earned.
The Cougars used three hits including a pair of doubles to put together a two-run second to take a 2-1 lead. That lead went to 4-1 after the fourth when Nick Tanielu started a two-run rally with a leadoff triple.
In the fifth, Dominic Jose singled on the first pitch he saw and Ragira singled to right to boost Jose by a pair of bags. Wayne Taylor drove in Stanford's second run of the game with a double down the leftfield line. Slater poked a two-RBI single through the left side to bring home Taylor and Ragira and tying the game at 4-4.
Slater made it 5-4 in favor of the visitors starting with his two-out double in the seventh. Slater stole second and scored on Justin Ringo's infield single.
The Cougars responded with a two-run, two-hit bottom half of the seventh. Garrett Hughes stopped the bleeding when he replaced James with no outs and two runners on base. Hughes got a groundout and sent the next two batters away on strikes.
Following the ejection of Washington State's head coach after he contested a batter's interference call in the eighth, Jason Monda hit a two-run homer to right. The first home run of the series gave the Cougars an 8-5 cushion.
Four Cougars had two hits apiece as Washington State totaled 11 on the day.
The two teams combined to commit five errors.
Slater added a leadoff double in the ninth and finished 3-for-5 with three RBI. Ringo was walked and Stanford had the tying run on the plate before the Cougars got a double play and groundout to end the game.
Brant Whiting and Taylor had two hits. Ragira scored twice.
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