Taylor steals the spotlight; Stanford defeats Indiana 10-7
By CRAIG DRAGASH
ISL Correspondent
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — College baseball has a history of dramatic moments in postseason play.
A prime example is Warren Morris, a seldom used player for LSU, who had one of the great moments in College World Series history when he hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run to defeat Miami in 1996.
Wayne Taylor had a similar experience for the Stanford Cardinal in their 10-7 victory over Indiana. Because of his dramatic moment, the two teams will meet again on Monday at 5:30 p.m. to determine the Bloomington Regional championship.
With two on and two outs in the eighth inning trailing 6-4, Taylor faced Jake Kelzer in a pinch-hitting role. Kelzer was very effective in closing the game for Indiana the night before, allowing only one hit in 1 2/3 innings. On Kelzer’s second pitch, Taylor stole the show by blasting an 0-1 slider over the fence in left-center to give the Cardinal a 7-6 lead before a stunned Indiana crowd.
“It was a pretty good pitch. I got the barrel on it and was able to drive it out,” Taylor said.
It was the second time in consecutive nights that Taylor had a pinch hitting opportunity against Kelzer.
“I appreciate the shot again tonight,” Taylor said. “Coach thought it was a good matchup, and it turned out to be one.”
The Cardinal wasn’t done yet.
After a scoreless eighth for Indiana, three consecutive hits produced three runs to give the Cardinal a four run cushion. An RBI single by Alex Blandino was followed by a run-producing double by Austin Slater, then Zach Hoffpauir capped the scoring with a triple that scored Slater.
After three straight walks to Casey Rodrigue, Kyle Schwarber, and Sam Travis to open the ninth, Stanford brought in closer Chris Castellanos to face Scott Donley to create a lefty-on-lefty matchup. Donley grounded into a fielder’s choice forcing Travis at second and scoring Rodrigue. Then, with Donley in motion on the pitch, Dustin DeMuth lined an 0-2 pitch right to second baseman Brett Michael Doran, who ran all the way to the first base bag to double off Donley and end the game.
“It was a great college baseball game, a great atmosphere,” said Stanford coach Mark Marquess. “We’re fortunate to win.”
After a scoreless first for Stanford, Indiana opened up their half of the inning with three straight singles, the third by Travis scoring Rodrigue. They would add two more in the inning on an RBI double by DeMuth, and a sacrifice fly by Will Nolden.
Stanford came storming back in the second on back-to-back solo home runs by Hoffpauir and Brant Whiting to cut the Indiana lead to 3-2. The Hoosiers answered in the bottom of the second as Tim O’Conner scored on a wild pitch from third base after leading off the inning with a ground rule double.
Then in the bottom of the fourth with O’Conner on third and two outs, Kyle Schwarber poked a single to left to score O’Conner, and the Hoosiers led 5-2.
Stanford answered back in the fifth as Blandino scored Tommy Edman on a sacrifice fly, then on a strange play after a single by Slater, Nolden threw the ball over third base into the Indiana dugout, scoring Danny Diekroeger. But on the play DeMuth backpedaled trying to catch the ball, and ran into third base umpire Tony Maners; but the throw appeared to be high enough that the collision didn’t affect the play.
Similar to the night before, Indiana got a big run in the 7th as Travis drew a two-out walk, then Scott Donley followed with a double to the right center wall, scoring Travis, giving the Hoosiers a 6-4 lead, but unlike the night before, the Hoosiers couldn’t hold on in this one.
“I like the way our guys competed, I liked the way they played”, said Indiana coach Tracey Smith. “We’ve got our own destiny in our hands and we’re looking forward to playing tomorrow.”
Stanford 12, Youngstown State 4
The Cardinal used a six-run second inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs by first baseman Danny Diekroeger and third baseman Alex Blandino, to secure a rematch with Indiana. Diekroeger’s was a three-run blast.
Stanford starter Brett Hanewich gave up two in the first on an error by Diekroeger with the bases loaded, then settled down to pitch six straight shutout innings. Hanewich gave up only three hits while striking out nine.
Second baseman Phil Lipari had two of Youngstown State’s six hits, and scored two runs. First baseman Brent Gillespie scored the other two runs for the Penguins.
Youngstown State finished its season with a 17-38 record, but head coach Steve Gillispie chose to focus on the run his team made through the Horizon League tournament through the regional, which included their first postseason win in school history.
“It was an honor to see what had happened from a coaching standpoint,” said Gillispie. “It’s a sad time, but yet they had a lot to be proud of.”
