Stanford: OSU takes Game 3, 8-6

By Alex Gyr - April 29, 2007

A Stanford rally fell short in the bottom of the ninth, as the Beavers hit three home runs and got a solid starting performance from Jorge Reyes to take a 8-6 win. Stanford put the tying run on base and brought the winning run to the plate with one out in the ninth, but Eddie Kunz quickly ended Stanford's hopes with pop out and ground out to end the game.

Jason Ogata, Mike Lissman and Darwin Barney all hit home runs for OSU, who took the lead for good in the second inning. Stanford got three runs in the bottom of the first on hits from Adam Sorgi (8-for-13 for the weekend with five RBIs) and Randy Molina. But after a rocky first, Reyes settled down and threw five more innings without allowing a run.

After two Stanford coaches were ejected on Saturday, no one was tossed from today's game, but each coach came out of the dugout at least once to argue. This was one of the worst called series of any series I've ever seen--inconsistent strike zones, indecisive decisions on interference calls, and a couple of blown calls on various other plays. I don't think the decisions particularily favored one side, but by the end of the series I think both coaching staffs were frustrated with the men in blue. Not a good weekend for Pac-10 umpires.

Stanford now needs to win its final nine Pac-10 games to crack .500 in the conference. They have their three weakest opponents left (Washington at home and Washington State and USC on the road), but that is still a tall task. Next week it is a Saturday through Monday series in Pullman against the second-to-last Cougars. It might be a series for pride at this point, but it will be one the Cardinal badly want to win.

OSU moves to 6-6 in conference with the win. I think they have the pitching to go deep in the postseason, even if they come up short in the Pac-10 race. With UCLA and ASU both losing the Beavers are four games back with 12 to play. Not an impossible gap to make up, but with so many teams ahead of them, it will be tough.

Reyes looked like the real deal today once he found his groove and he should compete with Daniel Turpen for the third starter spot down the stretch. I think the starters aren't quite as strong as the bullpen, but it could definitely be good enough to carry the Beavers to Omaha.

That's pretty much it for me here at Sunken Diamond. It has been a lot of fun again this weekend. For my money, it doesn't get much better than Pac-10 baseball. Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll be back one more time as the season winds down.