College World Series : Wichita Gets a Grip, Upsets No. 1 Arizona State

It would have been hard to blame Greg Brummett if he had just decided enough was enough after the first inning.

With Brummett on the mound, Wichita State committed three errors in the first inning, allowing Arizona State to score three runs on three weak singles.

But Brummett stuck with it, and finished with a 7-4 upset victory over top-ranked Arizona State in the College World Series Sunday night in front of 16,499 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Brummett scattered 6 hits, striking out 8 and walking 3, and retired 9 straight at one point, sending Arizona State into the loser’s bracket.

Arizona State (57-12) will play Florida in an elimination game Tuesday, and Wichita State (56-14-1) will play the winner of that game Wednesday.

“Give credit to Wichita State,” Arizona State Coach Jim Brock said. “They had everything go wrong that possibly could in the first inning. . . . But that didn’t let that demoralize them in what was a very big ball game, for them and for us.”

Wichita State was in a 3-1 hole after one inning, but the Shockers scored one run in the second and took the lead for good after scoring three in the third, two of them on a homer by Mark Standiford that helped give the Shockers a 5-3 lead they never gave up.

Brummett (10-4) faltered a bit in the eighth, putting runners on first and second with one out. But after a conference at the mound, he buckled down and finished the inning.

“He had pretty good stuff and pretty good control, but mostly he had a competitive spirit,” Brock said. “Usually we can wear a guy down, but that was as gutty a performance as I’ve seen in the College World Series for a while.”

The victory earned Wichita State a measure of respect it lacked here, despite having won 16 of its past 17 games, and 23 of 25.

Nor did the Shockers have an easy route to the Series. They had to beat Oklahoma State in two of three games at the Midwest Regional at Stillwater, Okla., in the Cowboys’ home park.

The Shockers won despite that appalling defensive performance in the first inning.

Officially, there were three errors, two by first baseman Mike McDonald and one by shortstop Mike Lansing. But the scorer was generous--it looked worse than it sounds.

Pat Listach, the Arizona State leadoff batter, beat out a grounder, and then John Finn hit a check-swing single past first base, moving Listach to second.

Listach scored from second on the next play when McDonald, the first baseman, committed an error on a grounder by Kevin Higgins, leaving runners on first and third.

Arizona State loaded the bases on a single by Steve Willis, with McDonald committing another error by dropping the ball on a pickoff attempt that would have gotten the first out.

Brummett struck out the next batter for the first out, but Arizona State scored another run on Martin Peralta’s sacrifice fly, with Higgins moving to third.

Higgins scored when Lansing bobbled a hard grounder and was charged with an error when he overthrew first.

Finally, mercifully, Ricky Candelari struck out to end the inning.

Wichita State took a 6-3 lead, but saw Arizona State trim it to 6-4 in the fifth.

The Shockers got a cheap run of their own in the eighth when pitcher Brian Dodd appeared to have Jim Audley picked off first. But Dodd’s throw to first was off the mark and Audley scored all the way from first, giving Wichita State a 7-4 lead.

Florida 6, California 5--Cal scored four runs in the first inning and had a 5-0 lead after two, but the Gators came back to eliminate the Bears on Allen Rutledge’s tie-breaking homer in the sixth.

“I knew if they got the momentum going it would be tough to get it back,” Cal Coach Coach Bob Milano said.

Florida (48-18-1) cut the lead to 5-2 in the third inning on Brian Reimsnyder’s two-run homer.

The Gators tied it in the fifth. After a leadoff single by Mike Moberg, Julio Mendez doubled to left-center, scoring Moberg.

With one out and runners on second and third, Ned Brigham singled to right, driving in Mendez, who had gone to third on a groundout, and sending Reimsnyder to third. Reimsnyder stole second after reaching base on a fielder’s choice.

Reimsnyder scored the tying run on Mario Linares’ sacrifice fly.