College World Series : Arizona St. Goes Left, Defeats Cal

It was clear from the start that Arizona State and California were familiar with one another. After all, they had met six times this season in the Pacific 10 Southern Division.

So to give his team the element of surprise, Arizona State Coach Jim Brock employed a method just a bit less deceptive than the hidden-ball trick. He started a left-handed pitcher, Rusty Kilgo, instead of Linty Ingram, the right-hander everyone had expected him to start.

“I was very careful,” Brock said. “I never said Ingram was going to throw. When everybody asked, I said, ‘We’re gonna dance with what brung us.’ When Cal started batting practice it was the first time anybody asked me, and I told them then we were starting a left-hander.”

Cal Coach Bob Milano, whose team lost in the double-elimination tournament to the top-seeded Sun Devils, 4-2, was less than pleased.

“I was told they were going to throw a right-handed pitcher, and he changed it to a left-handed pitcher while we were taking batting practice. I don’t think we adjusted.”

Milano shuffled his lineup a bit in an effort to adjust but remained miffed after the game.

But Brock, whose team was eliminated after two straight losses in the College World Series last year, wasn’t bothered.

“If I had to sacrifice 20 years of good relationships to win today’s game, I’d have done it,” he said.

Kilgo, who had not started in more than a year and did not find out for certain that he would start until Friday morning, earned the victory, allowing 2 runs on 9 hits in 8-plus innings.

And Ingram, the 17-4 pitcher everyone thought was starting, came in and earned a save.

Brock thought the advantage was all Arizona State’s.

Despite his record, Ingram hadn’t fared well against Cal, giving up 16 runs in 15 innings against the Bears this season. The teams split the season series, 3-3.

“Kilgo matched up with Cal much better,” Brock said. “Linty probably did not have as much luck with Cal as he did with the rest of the world.”

Brock also holds that the switch-hitters in Cal’s lineup bat better against right-handers.

But he admitted taking a chance starting Kilgo, a non-starter even though he has pitched as many as eight innings in relief.

“You have an All-American pitcher like Ingram who has won 17 games and you don’t start him at the World Series, you better hope the guy you start does good,” he said.

The teams were tied, 1-1, after six innings, but Martin Peralta led off the seventh with a home run to left-center field, giving Arizona State a 2-1 lead.

The Sun Devils scored two more runs in the ninth, making it 4-1.

Cal, which has a reputation as a late-rallying team, led off the ninth with a home run to left by John Kuehl, but managed no more.

The Bears seemed to have a comeback started when Derek Stark singled following Kuehl’s homer, but Kevin Brown, a pinch-runner, was picked off first by Ingram just before Darryl Vice walked. Brian Scott, the next batter, hit into a game-ending double play.

Wichita St. 5, Florida 4--Eric Wedge doubled home two runs in a three-run sixth inning, and the Shockers held off the Gators in the second game of the opening night doubleheader.

The win advances Wichita State (55-14-1) into the second round Sunday night against Arizona State (57-11). Florida (40-24) meets California (40-24) in an elimination game Sunday afternoon.

Florida, making its first College World Series appearance, took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on consecutive doubles by Jose Fernandez, Julio Mendez and Tommy Edwards. But the Shockers took the lead to stay in the sixth. Dan Raley walked and Mark Standiford singled. Wedge doubled then both home, and then scored on Mike McDonald’s one-out double for a 4-2 lead.

The attendance at Rosenblatt Stadium was 14,217, a record for the opening session. The mark was 14,115 in 1981.