06-02-2012, 09:58 PM
Brett Mooneyham had a second consecutive tough start, getting lifted after 2.1 innings when he hit the leadoff batter, made a throwing error on a bunt, then gave up consecutive singles, a fielder's choice and a walk. McArdle then gave up a double, scoring 2 more and giving Pepperdine a 4-0 lead with their Saturday starter throwing a great game.
But McArdle settled down, retiring 8 in a row to close the third, fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, Ragira homered to lead off the fourth, but the Cardinal was again having problems getting the key hit with runners in scoring position, leaving the bases loaded in the third, a man on third in the fourth and one on second in the fifth.
Then came one of the strangest scoring plays ever. The Waves' Scott Frazier, who was throwing an absolutely devestating curveball, hit Ragira leading off the sixth. After a Wilson strikeout, Blandino legged out an infield hit to third, and Smith singled up the middle. Bases loaded, one out.
Frazier uncorks a mighty curve ball that bounces in front of the plate, rides up the catcher's shoulder and to the backstop. Ragira scores from third and the other runners move up as the Waves' catcher retrieves the ball and looks back toward the plate to see if he has a throw. Realizing there is no play to be made, he checks his throwing motion - but loses the ball, throwing it away softly towards the third base on-deck area. Stanford was in the third-base dugout for this game, having lost the coin-toss to determine home-away, so Ragira is walking back toward the dugout. As the ball is rolling toward him and Blandino is coming home, he turns back toward the field, and his right heel catches the ball and kicks it into the Stanford dugout. After a short conference, the umps wave home Smith with the game-tying run, as the ball had been put out of play.
I've never seen a play like it, where the ball hits a player who is walking back to the dugout after scoring, but as it was ruled unintentional, it was treated as if he had been a baserunner hit by a throw. So the Cardinal tie the game on a bases-clearing wild pitch.
The rest of the game was a tense affair. Frazier settled down, allowing harmless singles with the bases empty after the wild play in the sixth and seventh. McArdle, meanwhile, had the ill-fortune of giving up a bounding ball up the middle to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Kenny Diekroeger flagged it down behind second base from his shortstop position, then made the ill-advised decision to try to throw out the runner while off-balance and heading into right-center field, and put the ball into the Pepperdine dugout. Man on second, no one out, just after a freak play ties the game against a pitcher showing dominant stuff.
A sac bunt moved the runner to third, and AJ Vanegas replaced McArdle. And had his typical all-over-the-place kind of outing. He got the first batter he faced to hit a bounding ball to Danny Diekroeger at a drawn-in second base, and the throw to the plate nailed the runner. He then wild-pitched the man on first into scoring position before striking out the next batter on three pitches.
The seventh was more of the same. Frazier got through the top on 8 pitches (Stanford really could've been a bit more patient, given the momentum of the game). Vanegas then engaged in two epic at-bat duels with the Waves' 2 and 3 hitters, the latter, Sever, the WCC player of the year. He lost the first, giving up a either 9- or 10-pitch walk to the leadoff man, but then got Sever on a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner. Another strikeout, then another walk. A simple fielder's choice to second ended that threat.
An infield single off Frazier's glove got Blandino on to start the eighth, and Smith moved him to second with a well-executed bunt. A play that could've been very costly followed, as Gaffney hit a ball in front of Blandino to the shortstop, but Blandino had gone too far from second, got thrown behind and tagged out as he tried to get back. But Kenny Diekroeger, who's had a tough go recently at the plate, ripped a ball just inside third base down into the corner, and Gaffney was on his horse, scoring from first. A harmless pop-out kept in 5-4.
Vanegas again walked the tightrope in the eighth, giving up a leadoff single that a bunt moved to second. He then struck out the #9 hitter, walked the leadoff man, then struck out the #2 hitter again to preserve the lead.Â
In the ninth, Stanford had a chance to tack on some insurance, with a leadoff double by Danny Diekroeger and him moving to third on a deep sac fly by Piscotty. But an intentional walk to Ragira got the intended result, as Wilson beat a ball into the ground out to the shortstop, and was barely nipped out at first on the completion of the double play.
So bottom of the ninth, one-run lead, and Vanegas has already thrown about 70 pitches or so, up against Sever again leading off the 3-4-5 hitters for the Waves. What's he do? Strikeout swinging. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout swinging.
Player of the game to AJ, though he induced many anxious moments: 3.2 innings, 8 Ks, 3 BBs, 1 hit. Strong secondary consideration for Smith, both defensively (a great tag to cut down the runner at home in the bottom of the sixth) and being in the middle of a lot of Stanford rallies, McArdle and Ragira.
So Pepperdine and Fresno State play the elimination game (and use their #3 starters) tomorrow early, with Stanford (and probably Piscotty) awaiting the winner.
All in all, a great comeback and hold win.
VG
But McArdle settled down, retiring 8 in a row to close the third, fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, Ragira homered to lead off the fourth, but the Cardinal was again having problems getting the key hit with runners in scoring position, leaving the bases loaded in the third, a man on third in the fourth and one on second in the fifth.
Then came one of the strangest scoring plays ever. The Waves' Scott Frazier, who was throwing an absolutely devestating curveball, hit Ragira leading off the sixth. After a Wilson strikeout, Blandino legged out an infield hit to third, and Smith singled up the middle. Bases loaded, one out.
Frazier uncorks a mighty curve ball that bounces in front of the plate, rides up the catcher's shoulder and to the backstop. Ragira scores from third and the other runners move up as the Waves' catcher retrieves the ball and looks back toward the plate to see if he has a throw. Realizing there is no play to be made, he checks his throwing motion - but loses the ball, throwing it away softly towards the third base on-deck area. Stanford was in the third-base dugout for this game, having lost the coin-toss to determine home-away, so Ragira is walking back toward the dugout. As the ball is rolling toward him and Blandino is coming home, he turns back toward the field, and his right heel catches the ball and kicks it into the Stanford dugout. After a short conference, the umps wave home Smith with the game-tying run, as the ball had been put out of play.
I've never seen a play like it, where the ball hits a player who is walking back to the dugout after scoring, but as it was ruled unintentional, it was treated as if he had been a baserunner hit by a throw. So the Cardinal tie the game on a bases-clearing wild pitch.
The rest of the game was a tense affair. Frazier settled down, allowing harmless singles with the bases empty after the wild play in the sixth and seventh. McArdle, meanwhile, had the ill-fortune of giving up a bounding ball up the middle to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Kenny Diekroeger flagged it down behind second base from his shortstop position, then made the ill-advised decision to try to throw out the runner while off-balance and heading into right-center field, and put the ball into the Pepperdine dugout. Man on second, no one out, just after a freak play ties the game against a pitcher showing dominant stuff.
A sac bunt moved the runner to third, and AJ Vanegas replaced McArdle. And had his typical all-over-the-place kind of outing. He got the first batter he faced to hit a bounding ball to Danny Diekroeger at a drawn-in second base, and the throw to the plate nailed the runner. He then wild-pitched the man on first into scoring position before striking out the next batter on three pitches.
The seventh was more of the same. Frazier got through the top on 8 pitches (Stanford really could've been a bit more patient, given the momentum of the game). Vanegas then engaged in two epic at-bat duels with the Waves' 2 and 3 hitters, the latter, Sever, the WCC player of the year. He lost the first, giving up a either 9- or 10-pitch walk to the leadoff man, but then got Sever on a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner. Another strikeout, then another walk. A simple fielder's choice to second ended that threat.
An infield single off Frazier's glove got Blandino on to start the eighth, and Smith moved him to second with a well-executed bunt. A play that could've been very costly followed, as Gaffney hit a ball in front of Blandino to the shortstop, but Blandino had gone too far from second, got thrown behind and tagged out as he tried to get back. But Kenny Diekroeger, who's had a tough go recently at the plate, ripped a ball just inside third base down into the corner, and Gaffney was on his horse, scoring from first. A harmless pop-out kept in 5-4.
Vanegas again walked the tightrope in the eighth, giving up a leadoff single that a bunt moved to second. He then struck out the #9 hitter, walked the leadoff man, then struck out the #2 hitter again to preserve the lead.Â
In the ninth, Stanford had a chance to tack on some insurance, with a leadoff double by Danny Diekroeger and him moving to third on a deep sac fly by Piscotty. But an intentional walk to Ragira got the intended result, as Wilson beat a ball into the ground out to the shortstop, and was barely nipped out at first on the completion of the double play.
So bottom of the ninth, one-run lead, and Vanegas has already thrown about 70 pitches or so, up against Sever again leading off the 3-4-5 hitters for the Waves. What's he do? Strikeout swinging. Strikeout swinging. Strikeout swinging.
Player of the game to AJ, though he induced many anxious moments: 3.2 innings, 8 Ks, 3 BBs, 1 hit. Strong secondary consideration for Smith, both defensively (a great tag to cut down the runner at home in the bottom of the sixth) and being in the middle of a lot of Stanford rallies, McArdle and Ragira.
So Pepperdine and Fresno State play the elimination game (and use their #3 starters) tomorrow early, with Stanford (and probably Piscotty) awaiting the winner.
All in all, a great comeback and hold win.
VG
