The outlook was very sunny and bright for USC on Thursday afternoon, just like the clear, blue skies in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Trojans had a chance to directly play their way into the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals against Washington, but even if they didn’t win, they had top-seeded Stanford in the late game, going up against sixth-seeded Oregon. It was very simple: If the regular-season Pac-12 champion mopped up the sixth-place team, USC was going to get into the semifinals even if it didn’t beat Washington.
The Trojans did not beat Washington, losing 8-3, but when Stanford scored four runs in the first inning and two more in the second, the Trojans had to feel good about their chances of playing in Friday’s semifinals.
Stanford was still up 6-3 after seven innings. USC was still in great shape with just six Oregon outs left.
Stanford still led 6-4 after eight innings. USC was still in a great position with only three Oregon outs left.
Stanford was still in the lead, 6-5, with two outs and no one on base for Oregon in the top of the ninth inning. USC was just one out away, and Oregon had no one on base.
One out, and USC was in the semifinals.
Then it happened.
Oregon hit a triple to right field. That was an annoyance, but it was not enough to tie the game. With the runner chugging into third base, the Stanford second baseman did not need to make a throw. Hold the ball, run it into the infield, give it to the pitcher, get the final out with the tying run on third. That’s all Stanford needed to do. Instead, the second baseman made a desperate throw several feet over the third baseman’s head. The ball landed in the bleachers, enabling the Oregon runner to come home to tie the score at six.
Stanford — which had scored six runs in the first two innings combined — left multiple runners in scoring position in the seventh and eighth, failing to pad its lead. Those failures were part of what enabled Oregon to make its huge comeback.
The Cardinal had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but stranded yet another runner in scoring position. The Pac-12 champions, who scored 18 runs a day earlier versus Cal, simply stopped hitting with runners on base.
Oregon then scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning, shut the door on the Cardinal in the bottom of the 10th, and secured an 8-6 win which looked like a loss nearly the whole evening in Arizona.
Instead of preparing for a Friday semifinal game in Scottsdale, USC is on a plane home to Los Angeles. The Trojans will wait to see if they qualified for their first NCAA Baseball Tournament since 2015.
The moral of the story: Don’t trust Stanford. More broadly: Don’t entrust one’s fate to anyone else. Beat Washington and get the job done directly.
[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696090378]