Schultz Shuts Down Stanford

Loyola Marymount pitcher Michael Schultz is one precocious freshman, and seldom more than on Thursday night at Palo Alto.

Schultz had a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings and bested top-seeded and third-ranked Stanford, 6-2, in the first round of the NCAA West Regional baseball tournament.

“He got ahead of the hitters early, and it looked like he was running out of gas but he had enough to stay with it,” Loyola Marymount Coach Frank Cruz said.

The loss was Stanford’s fifth in a row.

The key hit was a double by Loyola Marymount’s Anthony Angel that drove in Kevin Hook and Chad O’Hira in the third inning. Curt Fiore scored when Stanford left fielder Edmund Muth over ran the ball, which went to the wall, and Angel scored on a single by Kevin Gustdorf to give Schultz all the runs he needed.

Loyola Marymount advanced to a second-round game against Long Beach State, which was shut down by North Carolina State’s Kurt Blackmon, 12-3. Also, Jarrod Kingrey pitched a five-hitter for second-seeded Alabama, which had a seven run eighth inning in an 8-2 victory over Minnesota, which plays Stanford in an elimination game.

EAST--USC started freshman pitcher Rik Currier, who struggled against Fordham, but the Trojans got a two-run home run from Eric Munson to break a fifth-inning tie in a 10-6 win in the opening game of the NCAA tournament’s East Regional at Clemson, S.C. Steve Immel came in to relieve Currier and pitched a strong 3 1/3 innings in gleaning the win.

Today, USC faces Virginia Commonwealth, a 2-1 winner over South Alabama in another Thursday game. In the regional’s other game, host Clemson was a 12-3 winner over Citadel.

SOUTH II--Steve Chatham and Ryan Owens each had three-run homers for Cal State Fullerton, which had a season-high 20 hits in blasting Harvard, 16-1, at Baton Rouge, La.

Fullerton advanced to a game against Tulane, beat Southwestern Louisiana, 11-5. In the other game, host Louisiana State opened the defense of its national championship with an 18-4 victory over Nicholls State.

MIDWEST--Jeff Phelps’ grand slam highlighted a six-run seventh inning for Arizona State in an 8-4 victory over Arkansas at Wichita, Kan. Also in the Midwest, Matt Smith struck out 11 in 6 1/3 innings to lead Oklahoma State to a 13-4 victory over Georgia Tech. Brian Preston’s two-run double capped a four-run fourth inning for Wichita State in a 7-4 victory over Southeast Missouri State.

ATLANTIC I--Shane Wright (14-1) broke a Texas Tech record by pitching his 13th complete game of the season, beating North Carolina, 6-2, at Coral Gables, Fla. Also in the Atlantic I, Ryan Bordenick hit two three-run homers for South Carolina in a 21-9 win over Florida International, which got three homers from Luis Fernandez. Host Miami hit eight home runs, including two in the fifth inning by Aubrey Huff, in a 21-6 win over Bowling Green.

ATLANTIC II--At Tallahassee, Fla., Oklahoma used a five-run, sixth inning and Geoff Geary (13-1) struck out nine in eight innings in beating Delaware, 6-3, and ending a 23-game winning streak by Blue Hen pitcher Matt Phillips that extended to the 1996 season. In other Atlantic II games, Dave Marciniak’s three-run double sparked a six-run ninth inning for Rutgers, which was a 17-15 winner over second-seeded Auburn. Host Florida State beat Liberty, 10-7.

SOUTH I--Jeff Kenney’s two-out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning finished Richmond’s rally from a 9-0 deficit and gave the Spiders a 12-10 win over Baylor at Gainesville, Fla. Freshman Carlos Brackley hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning for Wake Forest in a 14-12 victory over Illinois. Florida beat Monmouth, 12-8.

CENTRAL--Jeremy Jackson struck out 10 batters in four innings, but Mississippi State had to hold off a Washington homer barrage for a 7-6 victory at College Station, Texas. In other games, Rice was an 11-1 winner over Oral Roberts and Texas A&M; beat North Carolina Charlotte, 17-0.