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Wednesday - June 21, 2006

CWS - Day 6

North Carolina v. Cal State Fullerton. Wes Roemer did get the start for the Titans and held up well until the 5th. North Carolina was ahead 4-3 when Roemer gave up back-to-back solo home runs to the 1st and 2nd batters he faced in the 5th. He stayed in the game and gave up a single to the next batter who then moved to 2b on a balk. The fourth batter tried to bunt the runner over but the ball (hit toward 3b) was too far from the line and Roemer was able to field it and get the lead runner at 3b. He struck out the next batter. On the play, the runner from 1b stole 2b. At that point, with a left-handed batter due up, lefty John Estes went in for Roemer to get the final out of the inning. Cal State Fullerton managed to chase the North Carolina starter, Daniel Bard, in the 7th (still behind 3-6) by opening the inning with a double and a single to put runners at the corners. Jonathan Hovis (1.23 ERA through 66 innings this season!) replaced Bard on the mound. Cal State Fullerton did get both runners across to pull within 1. With the tying run at 3b and 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, North Carolina sent their closer (Andrew Carigan) in to try and shut the Titans down. CSF tried to get the run across on a squeeze bunt but the ball went right at the pitcher who had an easy throw home to get the runner barrelling home for the 2nd out of the inning. The collision at the plate looked mighty painful. Ouch. The catcher did a great job to get the tag down and hold onto the ball. In the 9th, after two fantastic catches by the North Carolina center fielder and left fielder (the ball to left was only about 5 feet short of going out), North Carolina sent their #1 starter (Andrew Miller) in to pitch. He got pinch hitter Bryan Harris to ground out to ss on a very tough play to end the game. Oh my. Cal State Fullerton made it exciting to the bitter end. Alas, now they're headed home and North Carolina moves on to the Championship series.

Rice v. Oregon State. The Rice starter (Craig Crow) struggled from the start and was not able to make it out of the 3rd. With the bases loaded, one run across, and nobody out, he was replaced by Bobby Bramhall. Bramhall hit the first batter he saw to push another run across. The Beavers got one more across in the 3rd on a fielder's choice before going down on a strikeout and fly ball to lf. With 2 out in the 4th, Rice managed to load the bases but could not get a run across. And, that's how things remained until Shea McFeely hit a solo home run for the Beavers in the bottom of the 6th. The Oregon State starter (Daniel Turpen who hadn't started since April!) pitched a great game. He stayed in the game into the 7th while giving up 5 hits with 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 1 hit batter. He was replaced by Joe Patterson in the top of the 7th with 2 outs and a runner at 3b. Patterson walked the first batter he faced and then Tyler Henley hit a chopper down the 1b line. Patterson fielded and went for the tag on Henley. Henley lowered his shoulder and tried to run through Patterson, knocking him to the ground. Henley was then ejected from the game by the 1b umpire. Oregan State pushed another run across in the 7th and threatened more in the 8th but Rice got out of trouble by turning a nice double play to end the inning. Rice went down in order in the 9th. Oregon State blanked Rice 5-0. Wow. So the teams face each other again tomorrow night.

My buddy Sheri called me this afternoon to ask what I thought about how things were going and who I thought would win. I told her I could see both Cal State Fullerton and Oregon State winning tonight but that I doubted either would be able to take two to move on. Cal State Fullerton almost pulled it off tonight but couldn't quite do it. Oregon State, though. I think I'm gonna change my mind. I think they can beat Rice again tomorrow night. I kinda think they will beat Rice again. We shall see...

What fun!

Posted by Joanna at 11:42 PM