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Around SBN: New York Giants Super Bowl XLVI Ring Unveiled

Coug baseball earns first WSU victory over a #1 in seven years

(Note:  I wanted to call this weekly WSU baseball update "Out of Left Field," but three seconds of Google research enlightened me to the fact that there is not only a sports blog by the same name, but a feminist blog as well.  So the column will be nameless for now...)

Clearly affected by the mysterious shining orb in the sky, the Coug baseball team were befuddled for two consecutive games against the #1 ranked ASU Sun Devils.  The parkas and snowshoes the players had packed, which had given them a distinct advantage in their previous series victory in Pullman, seemed to help very little against the vaunted ASU team.  After the second game had ended, the Cougars found themselves with a two game losing streak by a combine 24-4 score.

But when Donnie's boys were all but counted out, they came storming back.  Aided by an overnight shipment of cleats, short sleeve t-shirts, and something the locals called "sunglasses," the Cougs used their David Eckstien-esque toughness and grittyness to salvage the third and final game of the series by a 10-4 final tally.

Wazzu was able to win with a tough-as-nails first career start from reshirt freshman David Stilley a gritty-as-sandpaper four innings in relief from junior Jeremy Johnson.  Fellow junior Michael Weber was able to break a 4-4 tie in the eighth with a solo homerun.  The Cougs added 5 more in the ninth to produce the final margin.

WSU now sits at 15-15 overall and 5-4 in Pac 10 play.

The victory over a #1 team was the first for any WSU team since the Elite Eight bound Coug volleyball team defeated Stanford in 2002.

 

Player of the Game:  Michael Weber.  2 for 5 with a homer and four ribeyes.

 

Story to tell the Grandbabies Moment of the Game: WSU Freshman David Stilley making his first career start against the #1 team in the country.

 

The Cougs will resume play at the hated Gonzaga Bulldogs on Tuesday.

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Dick Bennett came oh-so-close to beating #1 rated Stanford...

during his tenure at WSU.

Fluke play/three point shot at the end by Furd bailed them out. I believe it was Lichter who hit the shot.

The dogs went out and beat them a couple of days later. Too bad we didn’t steal their thunder….and, of course, no one remembers who “almost” beat a number one ranked team (except in our case, WSU fans). Coulda, woulda, shoulda…

I still remember when he hit the shot and my young son watched in disbelief as I slammed the remote down on the couch as hard as I could. It was his introduction to life as a Cougar fan. Sigh.

by westsidecougar1 on Apr 13, 2009 2:10 PM PDT reply actions  

That game showed me what it is to be a Coug

It was my freshman year and I had brought a bunch of high school kids from this program I was in. I had to hold back the swear words, which was sad.

This is where per game statistics go to die.

CougCenter

by Craig Powers on Apr 13, 2009 6:08 PM PDT up reply actions  

Why

is gonzaga so hated?

by peaty411s on Apr 13, 2009 5:47 PM PDT reply actions  

Not quite sure

Just sounded good. They do play each other at least four times a year though, so there must be some sort of rivalry there.

This is where per game statistics go to die.

CougCenter

by Craig Powers on Apr 13, 2009 6:05 PM PDT up reply actions  

Basketball team mostly

I should say

This is where per game statistics go to die.

CougCenter

by Craig Powers on Apr 13, 2009 6:15 PM PDT up reply actions  

Back when I was at WSU....

We played them quite a bit in baseball and every year in basketball but it really wasn’t a huge rivalry game in hoops yet, if I remember correctly. They were pretty decent in baseball but I think we pretty much had our way with them in basketball.

by SW WA Coug on Apr 13, 2009 7:04 PM PDT up reply actions  

I was there the day....

We beat USC in baseball one of the years they won the national championship. They were in the midst of winning it something like 6 times in a row. Freddy Lynn was there CF, Steve Busby was their star pitcher. It was really super witnessing that game. Lead off hitter Bobby Waits led off the game for us with a home run. It may have been his first of the season. His second time up he went yard again over the LF fence. Totally awesome. He led the nation in SB’s that season. I can almost tell you WSU’s starting lineup. It was the fist game USC had lost to a ‘northern’ school of the Pac-8 for quite some time. I don’t remember the particulars of that.

We took them to the brink in the second game of the winner’s bracket, losing a heartbreaker in the last inning. Just saying…..

by SW WA Coug on Apr 13, 2009 6:45 PM PDT reply actions  

We had a pretty awesome baseball team....

We would have beat USC if Joe McIntosh could have pitched a couple more innings but he was tapped out by then. We had to use him against Oregon to get a shot at USC, and had to beat them twice in a row to go to the west regionals. If we could have pulled off that second win it would have been back-to-back victories of epic proportion. We came up one inning short of making it happen. it broke my heart but I was pretty proud of how well we played that whole weekend. A lot of our players had big weekends but talent-wise, USC was head an shoulders above just about everyone in the country. I can remember a lot of our players but don’t want to list them for fear of leaving someone out. Anyway, it’s pretty cool you were there too westdsidecougar1. You know how special it was too.

I was sitting behind the USC dugout and their coach, Rod Dedeaux came out of the dugout before USC’s last at bat, we were up one run, and he turned around and looked right at us and said, “Don’t go away, the fun is just starting,” They put up about 3-4 runs in the top of that inning before we could get an out.

In the bottom of the inning we scored and had the tying run in scoring position but couldn’t get him in. Oh, so close we were. I felt bad for our team, and it was really tough on Bobo to come that close.

One of these days soon I hope we get to Omaha. That would be so cool.

by SW WA Coug on Apr 13, 2009 9:00 PM PDT up reply actions  

Yes...it's coming back to me (sort of)....

I got McIntosh’s autograph and a few other Cougar players too. I still have it stored somewhere I think (along with the S-R story on our basketball victory over UW to finish the season with Harshman at the helm a few years before that).

Wasn’t the weather just very nice for that game vs. USC? Somehow I remember it being in the 70s or so. Maybe it was a different game vs. USC. The place was packed.

by westsidecougar1 on Apr 13, 2009 9:13 PM PDT up reply actions  

It was a beautiful spring day....

There were people all over the place. It was either a Saturday or Sunday. USC was in the 1st base dugout. CJ Williams, a tall black man, was behind the plate. One of the best umpires I have ever seen for a college baseball game. Just about every window of Streit-Pehram (sp) was full of Wazzu fans and I think there were even people on top of the building watching the games. I had the best seat in the house behind the USC dugout. I could hear all the trash-talking coming out of it I was sitting so close.

USC thought they were going to waltz into Pullman and come out of there unscathed. It was hard enough beating a really good Oregon club, and then having to beat a great USC club twice. We almost did it.

by SW WA Coug on Apr 13, 2009 9:28 PM PDT up reply actions  

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