June 1, 2008
Box Score
STANFORD, Calif. - Jason Castro reached on an error to open the top of the ninth inning, and Brent Milleville hit a towering two-run homer over the left field fence to lift top-seeded and No. 15-ranked Stanford to a five-run inning and an 8-4 victory over UC Davis in the second elimination game of the NCAA Division I Stanford Regional Sunday afternoon in front of 2,360 fans at Klien Field at Sunken Diamond.
The Cardinal improve to 35-22-2 and advance to play Pepperdine in the first championship game at 5 p.m. A Stanford win would push the regional into a second and final championship game on Monday. The Aggies finish their first D-I season with an overall record of 35-24, which included an opening-day victory over Stanford in the regional tournament.
UC Davis, playing as the home team, took the lead in the bottom of the eight inning off a sacrifice fly from Matt Dempsey. Stanford then put up five runs in the ninth inning to jump ahead 8-4. Following MIlleville's two-run shot, the Cardinal put together four more hits and added three more runs to blow the game wide open.
"We had the game where we wanted it," said UC Davis head coach Rex Peters. "We had a lead heading into the ninth, we just couldn't hold it. They put up a big number on us and that's asking quite a bit to overcome."
Grant Hirneise made the most of his first postseason start with a game-high three hits, while Jake Jefferies matched him with three hits to set a new school record. Jefferies' had a hit in his final at bat in the ninth inning to break David Nix's 13-year old record of 95. Ty Kelly finished with one hit to cap his season with the second-best batting average of .397. Ryan Scoma tied a game-high with his two RBIs, which gave him a run batted in during all three UC Davis' regional games.
Millleville lead a group of three Cardinal players who had two RBIs in the game. Cord Phelps and Jake Schandler each drove in two runs, and joined Castro in tying the game-high with three hits each.
Ryan Royster started things off for UC Davis with a double to left field on the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning. Kelly then walked to put two on for Jefferies, who got his first postseason hit with a bloop single to center field to load the bases. Scoma then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Royster from third. Cardinal starter Jeffrey Inman got a strike out and ground out to end the threat.
Hirneise started the second inning with another lead-off double to left center field. Demspey then reached on a botched attempt by Inman to field his sacrifice bunt. Following a line out, Royster drove in the second Aggie run when his ground out score Hirneise from third.
Phelps sent a 3-2 pitch off the scoreboard in right center field to put Stanford on the board in the third inning. Following a Castro single, a fly ball from Randy Molina was lost in the sun by the UC Davis left fielder and dropped in for a double, scoring Castro from first and tying the score at 2-2.
Zach Jones doubled in the fourth with one out and Schandler drove him home the next at bat to give the Cardinal its first lead of the game at 3-2.
Royster led off the fifth with a bunt single and advanced to second on a ground out. Scoma tallied his second RBI of the game with a single down the right field line that scored Royster and tied the game again, 3-3.
Brendan Domaracki then led off the Stanford sixth with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Andy Suiter came on in relief and got the Aggies out of the jam by getting the next two batters on called strikes and a ground out.
Stanford started the seventh inning with back-to-back singles up the middle from Joey August and Castro to threaten again. Suiter got the next two batters to fly out and got around a walk with a foul out to the third baseman.
The Cardinal stranded 11 runners on base before finally breaking through in the ninth with a tournament-best five-run inning.
Drew Storen gave up a run off three hits in two innings of work but earned the victory. Justin Fitzgerald gave up the home run to Milleville in the ninth for the loss.
The end of the baseball season marks the close of the first official Division I season at UC Davis. Overall, the Aggies sent 11 teams to NCAA postseason play.
