UCLA
Stanford
Bruin Baseball Falls To Stanford 17-11, But Ends Season As Co-Pac-10 Champions
May 21, 2000 | Baseball
May 21, 2000
Palo Alto, Calif. - Second-ranked Stanford may have defeated the UCLA baseball team 17-11 in the season finale for both teams at Sunken Diamond Sunday afternoon, but the Bruins end the season as Co-Pac-10 Champions, tied with the Cardinal and No. 3 Arizona State.
UCLA ends the season with a 35-24 overall record and 17-7 in league action. The Bruins clinched a share of the top spot in the conference with a 10-9 victory in game one vs. Stanford (42-13, 17-7), but the Cardinal took the next two and Arizona State (42-13, 17-7) won two of three from Arizona. The Bruins win their first Pac-10 championship title since 1986. ASU though holds the tie-breaker between the three teams and will be the Pac-10's automatic qualifier for the NCAA regionals.
The Bruins must wait until tomorrow for the NCAA selection show televised live on ESPN at noon Pacific Time to see where they will be placed for the regionals held next weekend, Friday May 16-Sunday May 28.
Stanford wasted no time getting to Bruin starter Bobby Roe (6-5) who suffered his sixth loss of the season. The Cardinal scored three runs in the first and six in the second to take a commanding 9-0 lead after two frames, shades of yesterday's blowout.
UCLA attempted to chip away at the Stanford lead, scoring one run in the fourth on a bases loaded walk to sophomore third baseman Randall Shelley. The Bruins were held without a hit until the fifth inning, when junior designated hitter Bill Scott singled in junior second baseman Chase Utley. Sophomore pinch-hitter Adam Berry later singled with the bases loaded and junior center fielder Charles Merricks had an RBI single as well.
Stanford put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a grand slam by right fielder Joe Borchard. The Bruins answered with two runs in the seventh and four in the eighth, but it wasn't enough to stage a comeback. Berry had a two-run homer in the eighth, a towering shot over the left field fence.
Junior Garrett Atkins, making his first career start in left field today, had a two-run double in the seventh, extending his season-high hitting streak to 18 games. Junior catcher Forrest Johnson went 0-for-3, snapping his career-high hit streak at 17. Utley had an eighth inning base hit, his 100th of the season. He becomes the second Bruin this season to reach 100 hits and sixth in UCLA history.
Stanford reliever Tim Cunningham earned the victory in relief, improving his record to 5-1. The Bruins will be in action next weekend at the NCAA regionals, at a place yet to be determined.
