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By John Manuel
June 17, 2002

Steve Stanley

OMAHA--Notre Dame had good reason, it turned out, to feel optimistic going into the bottom of the ninth.

Sure, Rice senior lefthander Justin Crowder had pitched 25 consecutive scoreless innings entering the inning, and the Owls led the Fighting Irish 3-2. But coach Paul Mainieri knew he had the top of his lineup coming back around, and that was all he needed to know.

Crowder got one out, but no more. Irish senior Steve Stanley tripled in an eight-pitch dogfight of an at-bat, scored on Steve Sollmann's game-tying single, then exulted as Brian Stavisky blistered a 1-2 pitch for a two-run, game-winning homer.

The Irish survived with a 5-3 victory, eliminating the top-ranked Owls and setting up a game Tuesday against tonight's Texas/Stanford loser.

"I am really not surprised by what happened, because I've seen these guys do it for three and four years," Mainieri said. "I knew as the home team that we'd have the last at-bat, and the lineup would cycle back around to the top.

Notre Dame celebrates Stavisky's HR

"When you have Steve Stanley coming to bat, and then Sollmann and Stavisky, you know you always have a chance."

Sollmann, the MOP of the Notre Dame regional, extended his incredible postseason streak to 11 straight hits with runners in scoring position. Stavisky then took an outside fastball that just missed the outside corner on an 0-2 count, then didn't miss on a ball up in the strike zone, blasting it into the right-field bleachers through a stiff breeze that was blowing out to left. Against a predominantly lefthanded lineup like Notre Dame's, that wasn't a good sign. But Mainieri, who has said in the past that he has never had a player hit the ball as hard consistently as Stavisky, had no doubt his homer would pierce the wind and get out.

"Brian was ready, and he finally got the head (of the bat) out," Mainieri said. "The wind had hurt us all day, but I knew the wind would not stop the ball Brian hit."

Crowder (10-3) deserved a better fate in his second straight stellar relief effort. He had come on with the bases loaded in the third, with Notre Dame already having gotten to freshman Philip Humber for two runs. Crowder got out of that jam, then gave up just two hits over the next five innings as the Owls battled back.

Sophomore right fielder Austin Davis, moved up to the No. 2 spot in the order, hit a wind-blown solo homer to left to start the fourth, then tied the game in the sixth against Irish starter Chris Niesel with a single to left that scored Chris Kolkhorst.

Stanley had just missed Kolkhorst's drive, a diving attempt that glanced off his glove. He helped save a run later in the inning, though, running down a blast to the left-center gap by pinch-hitter Enrique Cruz. But the Owls kept on coming.

Mainieri removed Niesel with two outs in the top of the seventh, as he had reached 116 pitches. Reliever J.P. Gagne promptly surrendered a pinch-hit homer to Mike Lorsbach, the first pinch-hit home run in Omaha since 1993.

"I'm glad I don't have to live with that decision," Mainieri said. "History tells us Chris' fastball flattens out and loses a little hop at 115 pitches, so I thought, 'Let's go to J.P.' I'm glad these guys got me off the hook."

The only second-guessing of Crowder was the question of why he didn't start the game. He had made two postseason starts, going 8 2/3 innings against Texas Tech in a regional win and throwing a complete-game shutout against LSU in the super-regional. However, Humber was 11-1, 2.67 entering the game and had won his last nine decisions.

"I was surprised when I got back to town and found out they were starting (Humber)," said Mainieri, who had flown with his children to Toledo on the off day to be with his wife, whose father died over the weekend. "I wasn't displeased to find that out."

Humber seemed fazed by two misplays by his defense, as Eric Arnold and Paul Janish misplayed a pair of popups in the wind. The latter helped lead to the Irish's two-run third inning. With two outs and Stavisky at first after a fielder's choice, Janish and the Rice outfield flubbed Andy Bushey's popup, which fell for an RBI single as Stavisky sped around the bases. Humber then gave up a single, hit a batter and walked Kris Billmaier with the bases loaded to force in another run.

Enter Crowder, who stabilized the game for the Owls. Until the end, when the Irish just refused to lose.

"Justin didn't have his good changeup, but he competed really well," Rice coach Wayne Graham said. "He's been our guy all year. He threw some good pitches to (Stanley), worked back from 3-0 and threw what I would have thrown 3-2, but he did a great job on a curve, stayed with it and tripled.

"Then he hung a breaker up there (to Stavisky). That's the way it goes."

The loss extends Rice's College World Series futility. The Owls have gone 1-6 in three trips to Omaha since 1997.

"That has a way of turning around--if you persist in this game, things will go your way," Graham said. "Maybe the Lord is just testing us a bit to see if we really mean it."