Titans Lose Heartbreaker to Stanford in 13 Innings May 31, 2002 – Palo Alto, Calif.
Box Score and
Play by Play
Scott Dragicevich's line drive single to center field off Sean Martin
scored Donny Lucy with the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning
as ninth-ranked Stanford beat No. 25 Cal State Fullerton, 3-2, in a first-round
NCAA regional game at Sunken Diamond Friday night.
The TItans, who had a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth and
a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the ninth, fell to 36-21 overall. They
will face third-seeded San Jose State in an elimination game on Saturday
at 11 a.m. Fullerton must win not only to extend its season but to avoid
its first winless NCAA tournament appearance in 24 trips.
Stanford, the top seed in the regional and the national No. 8 seed, improved
to 41-16 and will meet Long Beach State in a winner's bracket game at
3 p.m. tomorrow.
Stanford's Jeremy Guthrie (11-1), the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and first-team
All-American, pitched all 13 innings for the Cardinal, throwing 144 pitches
on the night. Guthrie, who also beat Fullerton in the season opener on
Feb. 1, scattered nine hits, walked three and struck out four. He hit
a season-high three batters, including two in the head.
Matching Guthrie pitch for pitch through eight-plus innings was Titan
ace Wes Littleton, who was on track for his 10th win before Stanford tied
the game, 2-2, in the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Garko led off with a single
just beyond Titan shortstop Justin Smyres into left field. Pinch-runner
Tobin Swope stole second base and scored the tying run on a hard one-out
single up the middle by All-American second baseman Chris O'Riordan.
The game was scoreless until the top half of the seventh when the Titans
snapped Guthrie's consecutive scoreless innings streak at 25. David Fischer
drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second base on a sac bunt by Jason Corapci
and scored on Mike Martinez's hard single through the right side.
Fullerton added another run to its slim cushion in the eighth, with an
assist from Guthrie. Chris Stringfellow singled to center to open the
frame and Smyres reached when Guthrie couldn't field his sacrifice bunt
attempt. The error opened the door for an unearned run, though it came
in painful fashion. With the bases loaded, Guthrie hit Fischer in the
helmet to force in a run.
But the Cardinal scratched Littleton's shutout bid in the bottom of the
eighth. Scott Dragicevich legged out a double to left center field to
lead off and scored when Chris Carter singled through the left side of
the infield. Smyres, the shortstop, would have likely had a play on the
ball, but had sprinted to second base in anticipation of a pickoff play
as Littleton was delivering the pitch.
Chad Cordero threw 2.2 scoreless innings for the Titans and Martin, who
fell to 2-1, pitched the final 1.1 innings.
NOTES: The Titans lost for the first time in 85 games when they've
entered the ninth inning with a lead...Fullerton has lost four consecutive
NCAA tournament games to Stanford (their last three tourney losses overall
have come to the Cardinal)...Both David Fischer and Jason Corapci were
hit in the head by pitches from Jeremy Guthrie...Fischer remained in the
game with a small abrasion on his lip, though Corapci was lifted for a
pinch-runner...Fullerton athletic trainer Chris Mumaw said Corapci has
a very minor concussion at worst...Fischer singled in the 13th to extend
his hitting streak to 12 games...Mike Martinez made his first start since
May 5...Fullerton will likely start Jordan DeJong against San Jose State...The
game can be heard on Titan Internet Radio only...If the Titans advance
to the 7 p.m. game, that contest will be heard on KWRM AM-1370
