03-09-2012, 09:10 PM
#2 Stanford baseball playing host to #4 Rice, whom I still haven't forgiven for their shameless leaning into pitches at the College World Series a few seasons back.
Spot starter Justin Ringo, hitting in place of normal #2 Jake Stewart, just smacked a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to win 4-2. But the big story was the work of Friday starter Mark Appel.
The first didn't go well. 2 walks and 2 singles led to an early 2-0 Owl lead.
Then he set down the next 10 Owls in order. He gave up a single in the top of the fifth, and another with a hit batsmen in the top of the sixth, before a K and a fly out ended the threat.
And then he set down the side in order in the 7th. And the 8th. And the 9th. Oh, and in the 9th, doing so by striking out the side.
On the night: 9 IP. 4 singles. 2 BBs. 1 HBP. And 14 strikeouts. Against the #4 team in the country. Nice bounceback from a bad Friday night start last week in Fresno.
Which was good, because Stanford had all sorts of trouble hitting Rice's pitching. They tied the score in the bottom of the third on a double by Kauppila, a HBP for Gaffney, then a sac bunt, a wild pitch and a groundout. But they couldn't break through with 2 men on in either the 4th or the 6th, and when Rice brought in their reliever Tyler Duffey, he made the Cardinal batters look bad. They failed to get a ball out of the infield in the 7th, 8th or 9th, and their one threat ended in the eighth when Ragira got picked off second.Â
David Schmidt relieved Appel in the 10th, and he gave up a lead-off single, but the Owl was cut down at second CS. Groundouts to 3B and 2B ended the inning, setting up Ringo's heroics.
I think another inning was a bit much to ask of Duffey. Kauppila smacked a ball up the middle and nearly beat the throw from the 2B. Then Gaffney, who didn't have a hit but was on base 3 times, 2 BBS and 1 HBP, worked the walk. I think Duffey must have been worried about the steal attempt, because he hung one to Ringo, and the instant it hit the bat, sank into a crouch because he knew it was gone.
Stanford goes to 12-1.
VG
Spot starter Justin Ringo, hitting in place of normal #2 Jake Stewart, just smacked a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to win 4-2. But the big story was the work of Friday starter Mark Appel.
The first didn't go well. 2 walks and 2 singles led to an early 2-0 Owl lead.
Then he set down the next 10 Owls in order. He gave up a single in the top of the fifth, and another with a hit batsmen in the top of the sixth, before a K and a fly out ended the threat.
And then he set down the side in order in the 7th. And the 8th. And the 9th. Oh, and in the 9th, doing so by striking out the side.
On the night: 9 IP. 4 singles. 2 BBs. 1 HBP. And 14 strikeouts. Against the #4 team in the country. Nice bounceback from a bad Friday night start last week in Fresno.
Which was good, because Stanford had all sorts of trouble hitting Rice's pitching. They tied the score in the bottom of the third on a double by Kauppila, a HBP for Gaffney, then a sac bunt, a wild pitch and a groundout. But they couldn't break through with 2 men on in either the 4th or the 6th, and when Rice brought in their reliever Tyler Duffey, he made the Cardinal batters look bad. They failed to get a ball out of the infield in the 7th, 8th or 9th, and their one threat ended in the eighth when Ragira got picked off second.Â
David Schmidt relieved Appel in the 10th, and he gave up a lead-off single, but the Owl was cut down at second CS. Groundouts to 3B and 2B ended the inning, setting up Ringo's heroics.
I think another inning was a bit much to ask of Duffey. Kauppila smacked a ball up the middle and nearly beat the throw from the 2B. Then Gaffney, who didn't have a hit but was on base 3 times, 2 BBS and 1 HBP, worked the walk. I think Duffey must have been worried about the steal attempt, because he hung one to Ringo, and the instant it hit the bat, sank into a crouch because he knew it was gone.
Stanford goes to 12-1.
VG
