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By John Manuel
June 18, 2002

It needed that start, because for the second time in this College World Series, the Cardinal couldn't shake the plucky Fighting Irish until the game was over. Behind the relief pitching of senior lefty Dan Rich, though, the Cardinal stayed alive with a 5-3 victory, setting up yet another matchup with Texas.

Stanford and Texas have played a pair of three-game series the last two years, then played three times in a regional at Palo Alto, Calif., last year, before meeting again Monday here in the CWS. The Cardinal have won six of the last 10 meetings, but must beat the Longhorns twice to advance to its third straight championship game.

"We're not tired of Texas--there's a healthy rivalry there," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "We were fortunate to come out of the regional last year . . . It's special when you play somebody you respect."

The Irish also earned the Cardinal's respect, losing their two games here by 4-3 and 5-3 scores. Stanford jumped to the early lead with those two home runs, a two-run shot by the game's second batter, sophomore Sam Fuld, and a leadoff shot in the second by sophomore Carlos Quentin.

The Cardinal (47-17) added a run in the sixth on Jason Cooper's RBI single, and got a crucial insurance run in the ninth on Andy Topham's suicide squeeze, which scored Scott Dragicevich. Rich made it stand up, getting the last seven outs while giving up only one hit and striking out three.

"They're a great team--we couldn't get any distance from them," Marquess said. "We were fortunate Dan was able to come in and finish strong. I thought he had a good fastball tonight with a lot of life. I was nervous, and Dan was pitching, and that's how I like it."

Notre Dame (50-18) also couldn't overtake Stanford starter John Hudgins (10-1), who was making his first appearance since June 2, when he beat Long Beach State to win the Stanford regional. Hudgins wasn't particularly sharp, giving up six hits and three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings without a strikeout. But he was effective when he needed to be, particularly in a fifth inning that saw the Irish load the bases with no outs.

Hudgins gave up singles to Matt Bok and Kris Billmaier before Javier Sanchez' perfect bunt single. He got Joe Thaman, the No. 9 hitter, to pop up to second on the first pitch, then retired Notre Dame's leading hitter, senior outfielder Steve Stanley, on a sacrifice fly to left that cut the lead to 3-2. Irish second baseman Steve Sollmann came to the plate 11-for-11 in the postseason with runners in scoring position, but Hudgins retired him on a first-pitch grounder to shortstop, where Topham gobbled it up and fired to first to end the threat.

"I was confident we had a chance for a big inning," Notre Dame coach Paul Mainieri said. "Thaman pulled off on his swing, then Steve delivered the sacrifice fly and Sollmann couldn't get the big hit for us. I was concerned when we left that opportunity. We didn't take maximum advantage of it, and it probably cost us the game."

Hudgins added, "I didn't execute on the bunt and it was a tight spot, but I made some pretty good pitches. I was able to get inside on their hands and really tried to limit the damage.

"In that situation, it's most important to get strike one. You don't want to give up a double in the gap. I was trying to go right at them, and it was their 9-1-2 hitters, so I didn't think they were going to hit the ball out."

They didn't. Stanford did early, with outfielders Fuld (his eighth) and Quentin (his 12th) connecting. The biggest run may have been the squeeze in the ninth, though. Dragicevich doubled off reliever J.P. Gagne and moved to third on Arik VanZandt's sacrifice bunt. Topham squared to squeeze on the 1-0 pitch, but Notre Dame had pitched out. Topham was able to stay in the batter's box, according to home-plate umpire Jim Garman (the replays were basically inconclusive), and foul off the pitch, then delivered the bunt on a 3-1 pitch that Gagne described as "2 inches off the ground. It was a great bunt."

And a great game, setting up what figures to be another good one between the Cardinal and Longhorns on Thursday. Texas announced it will start righthander Ray Clark, used most of this season as a reliever. Marquess did not announce a starter, saying he would see how everyone felt at practice Wednesday, but by everyone, he really meant righthander Jeremy Guthrie. The All-American pitched a complete game Saturday against Notre Dame, needing 119 pitches, and would have four days' rest.

"If Jeremy can go, he'll go," Marquess said. " He knows his arm well and he'll tell me if he's fine or if he's not. If he's fine, he's pitching. There's no one else as good on our staff."