Stanford: USC takes game one, 11-8

By Alex Gyr - March 10, 2007

It was an ugly, offensive game and USC came out on top courtesy of five runs in the top of the eighth inning. Stanford overcame and early 5-1 deficit and tied the game up, 6-6, in the bottom of the seventh with a two run homer by Sean Ratliff and a solo blast to straight away center by Michael Taylor.

The Trojans rally in the eighth was fueled by a critical error by shortstop Cord Phelps on a beautiful double-play ball with runners at first and second and one out. Phelps dropped the ball on the transition, no outs were recorded and five unearned runs came in to score as the inning continued. It was the fourth error on the game from Stanford, but by far the most costly. Stanford rallied with two in the bottom of the eighth, but it was not enough. USC closer Paul Koss got his ninth save of the season by shutting down the Card in the ninth.

The moral of this game? My predictions are absolutely worthless. I though after Jeffrey Inman's shutdown performance last week and with Ryan Cook's solid numbers we would see a pitcher's duel. Instead, the teams combined for 35 hits and 19 runs.

Just to make it clear one more time, Taylor's home run was an absolute bomb. Down by one, he got ahead in the count 2-0 and USC reliever Hector Rabago left a fastball right down the middle. Goodbye baseball. It was the raw power that Taylor is expected to show, but has never been able to display consistently throughout his Stanford career. Bottom line, he crushed it.

But it was not to be for the Card, who have yet to play an error-free game this year. The errors come early, come often and throughout the season have taken the Cardinal out of games. Just terrible defense tonight from Stanford.

One other note: Stanford designated hitter Brendan Domaracki was ejected from the game in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded and two outs in a 5-3 ballgame, Domaracki appeared to have checked his swing at a 1-2 fastball high, out of the zone. Rather than appealing the play, the home plate umpire ruled (incorrectly from my perspective, but it was still a close call) that he went around for the strikeout. Domaracki went off and within ten seconds was ejected. Stanford coach Mark Marquess came out and argued on his behalf and was probably lucky not to join Domaracki back in the locker room. The call totally changed the momentum of the game and Stanford didn't get another hit against Cook until Ratliff's homer three innings later.

For USC, they have more short, stocky players than I have ever seen. We saw seven players for USC listed at 5-foot-9 or below tonight. How is that possible for a top 25 team? Matt Cusick, the Trojans best hitter is listed at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds. Their starting left fielder was 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, and that was probably on the generous side.

It was the first home loss of the season for Stanford and their sixth in seven games to ranked opponents. A series loss here is going to leave the Cardinal needing a solid Pac-10 season to make it to the postseason. Last year the Card carried five wins in six games against Fullerton and Texas into the Pac-10 season. This year, they got just one win in six tries against those same teams.

It will be Jeremy Bleich against freshman Brad Boxberger tomorrow afternoon. All signs point to some solid pitching, but again, that's what I thought tonight and we ended up with a nearly four hour game.

I'll be with you again tomorrow for game two.