A 4-run 8th Inning Puts the Canes Out in Front
By Adam Aizer - February 11, 2007
Sometimes the "right" move ends up being all wrong. Bottom of the eighth, one out, bases empty, tied 3-3, and UCLA relief pitcher Kevin Brophy was pitching well. He had allowed only an inherited runner to score since taking over in the sixth. Now the lefty Dennis Raben was scheduled to hit for Miami, and UCLA Coach John Savage played it by the book. He brought in his lefty pitcher Paul Schmidt from the pen to face Raben. On paper, it seemed like a good move. Raben is better against righties. Schmidt had pitched twice in the series already - one inning, one hit, no runs.
But Dennis Raben delivered his second extra-base hit of the night with a double down the left field line. That would be all for Schmidt. He gave way to the closer Brant Rustich with one out and a runner on second. Rustich surrendered three runs last night, the last one coming off a single from Gus Menendez. Ironically, Menendez would be his first batter.
And he drilled him. Didn't seem intentional, but it put two men on with only one out for a pinch hitter, Richard O'Brien Jr. O'Brien Jr. laced a single to right field. Dennis Raben made a big turn around third. Will Penniall comes up throwing. A play at the plate...
Not quite. Raben held up and the bases were loaded for a freshman named Jason Haggerty, already 0-3 today. Haggerty was 0-7 on the season, and Rustich took the pressure off of his shoulders with a wild pitch. 4-3 Miami. You can't be throwing wild pitches there. Make the guy earn it.
Rustich would get a ground out from Haggerty, but the Canes were far from finished. Teams aren't supposed to get this kind of production from a #9 hitter. But Blake Tekotte is locked in. He delivered his third single of the game, this time knocking in two more runs. With that hit, Tekotte has scored twice and has two RBI.
But wait...
There's more.
Jemile Weeks followed Tekotte's act with an RBI single of his own to get Tekotte in from second (Tekotte reached second on an error).
So after eight completed innings, the Hurricanes hold a 7-3 lead and are three outs away from a series sweep. Where will these teams end up in the rankings? Miami is likely to stay in the top five, and I could see UCLA being something like 28th. That is, of course, if the score stays this way. Gotta give UCLA credit for being in these games and scheduling tough opponents.
Posted by Adam Aizer at 04:06 PM on February 11, 2007
Comments (1)
Comments
Stevo
The Canes are definitley good enough to win the CWS. Right now I don't think they should be higher than 5, but at the end of the year I suspsect they will be. The Canes just need better relief pitching. Pretty soon the lineup will be performing much better 1-9. Thanks for the comment.
Adam
Comment by Adam - February 11, 2007 04:27 PM