Friday roundup

CS Fullerton routs LSU; Stanford blanks South Carolina

Carlos Quentin makes a diving catch for Stanford, which held South Carolina to just two hits. AP

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Cal State Fullerton is known for its small-ball style of scoring. Shane Costa showed off another aspect of the Titans' offense.

Costa hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the third inning as the Titans cruised past Louisiana State with an 8-2 victory at the College World Series on Friday night.

His first home run since March 23 -- and fifth of the season -- was only the 35th by the Titans in 63 games.

"I was sitting fastball the whole time," Costa said. "The first pitch came, and it wasn't it. The second pitch came, and it wasn't it. The third one, I just ran into it, and it went a long ways."

The Titans (49-14) advanced to a winner's bracket game Sunday against Stanford, which shut out South Carolina 8-0 earlier Friday. LSU (45-21-1) plays South Carolina in an elimination game Sunday.

Three Fullerton pitchers limited LSU to five hits.

Jason Windsor (11-2) held the Tigers to one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He has given up three earned runs and 10 hits in his last 19 innings over three games.

Sean Martin gave up one hit in 2 1/3 innings, and Chad Cordero pitched a perfect ninth.

Windsor threw seven straight balls before finding the strike zone in the first inning. The first three LSU batters reached base, but he got out of the inning unscathed.

"It was my first time playing here, and the adrenaline was really pumping, so I wasn't myself," Windsor said.

A trip to the mound by pitching coach Dave Serrano put Windsor at ease.

"After that, I took few deep breaths, let it go and had fun," Windsor said.

Though Costa provided the offensive highlight with his home run, Fullerton played true to form. the Titans had two bunt singles, two sacrifices and four stolen bases.

"We worked hard on bunting and we take pride in it," Kurt Suzuki said. "We don't hit a lot of home runs, but we work hard at hitting what we call the honey hole, a base hit up the middle."

The Titans padded their lead with three runs in the fourth. Kyle Boyer scored on a wild pitch, and Ronnie Prettyman and Justin Turner hit consecutive RBI singles.

Prettyman's sacrifice fly made it 8-1 in the sixth and chased LSU starter Nate Bumstead (11-4), who had his worst outing since giving up eight runs in 2 2/3 innings against Kansas on Feb. 16.

The Tigers came into the CWS after collecting 15 hits in four of their last six games, but were silenced by Windsor and the Titans relievers. LSU's Nos. 3 through 6 hitters -- Aaron Hill, Blake Gill, Clay Harris and Ivan Naccarata -- were a combined 0-for-15, including five strikeouts and one double play.

"I wasn't trying to attack those guys any differently," Windsor said. "It was all about hitting my spots and keeping them off-balance."

LSU opened the scoring in the second on Ryan Patterson's 16th homer of the season.

But the Titans took control with their four-run third inning. Trailing 1-0, Suzuki bunted for a single and later scored on Bumstead's wild pitch. Bumstead walked Justin Turner to put runners at the corners, then Costa hit his three-run shot.

LSU scored its other run in the seventh when Jon Zeringue doubled and scored on Bruce Sprowl's groundout.

"We are tickled to death," Fullerton coach George Horton said. "Any time you beat LSU at the College World Series, it's a great accomplishment."

LSU coach Smoke Laval said his team missed an opportunity to build momentum by going hitless for three straight innings after Patterson's homer in the second.

"We could have gotten the juices flowing, but they settled down and took care of the ball game," Laval said. "They were in control."

Stanford 8, South Carolina 0

Despite giving up just two hits over eight innings and his team on its way to an 8-0 victory Friday, Hudgins was not allowed to finish what he started.

Kodiak Quick pitched a hitless ninth to wrap up the third CWS shutout since 1995 and the first two-hitter since 1993.

Hudgins had no qualms with Stanford coach Mark Marquess' decision.

"This isn't a one-game tournament," Hudgins said. "It isn't about individual performances. It's about winning ball games."

Hudgins threw only 84 pitches, which allows Marquess to bring him back on short rest.

"And if we can't keep an 8-0 lead with our bullpen," Marquess said, "we should go home."

While Hudgins was shutting down the Gamecocks, the Cardinal collected 12 hits off four pitchers.

Sam Fuld and Jonny Ash each had three hits for Stanford and Ryan Garko drove in three runs.

The Cardinal recorded their fifth shutout of the season and the first in the CWS since Georgia Tech beat South Carolina 11-0 in last year's opener.

After last year's debacle, the Gamecocks won four straight to reach the national championship game, where they lost to Texas.

Stanford (47-15) stretched its season-best winning streak to 10 games and advanced to a Sunday meeting with Cal State Fullerton (49-14), which beat LSU 8-2.

South Carolina (44-21) plays LSU (45-21-1) in a Sunday elimination game.

"There's never an advantage to this situation," Gamecocks coach Ray Tanner said. "We do have some experience with this. We're going to regroup, battle back and come back on Sunday."

Hudgins (12-3) held South Carolina hitless until Justin Harris doubled with one out in the fourth. Only two others reached base against Hudgins.

Hudgins and Quick combined on the first CWS two-hitter since Long Beach State's Mike Fontana beat Kansas 6-1 on June 6, 1993.

"This game wasn't too hard to figure out," Tanner said. "John Hudgins pitched a good game. You have to give credit where credit is due."

The Cardinal jumped on South Carolina starter David Marchbanks (15-3) for two runs in the first on Garko's single. Stanford added two more in the second as Tobin Swope scored on a wild pitch and Garko drove in Fuld with a sacrifice fly.

"Those two runs in the first really helped us relax," said Marquess, whose team is at the CWS for the fifth straight year. "I don't care how many times you've been here, you're a little nervous in the first inning."

Marchbanks was replaced by Chris Hernandez with one out in the fourth. It was the shortest start of the season for the junior left-hander, a first-team All-American and the Southeastern Conference's pitcher of the year.

Hernandez walked in a run before Jed Lowrie and Ash hit consecutive RBI singles to make it 7-0. Ash's infield single off reliever Matt Campbell in the sixth capped the scoring.

In the second inning, Stanford right fielder Carlos Quentin robbed Kevin Melillo of an extra-base hit with a diving catch of a line drive in the gap.

"I didn't think he had a shot at it at all," Hudgins said.

Fuld, the Cardinal's center fielder, said Hudgins maintained a good rhythm.

"He worked quick and was throwing strike one on every at-bat," Fuld said. "We shouldn't be worried about being focused at this time of the year, but playing behind a quick pitcher does help keep you sharp."

 

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