Pitching is Name of the Game as Baseball Sweeps Vanguard
April 4, 2007

Complete Box Scores »» Game 1   Game 2

On Wednesday, Cougar baseball turned in two of its best pitching performances of the season en route to a surprising sweep of Vanguard, 6-3 and 4-0. The wins improve CSUSM's record to 13-17 on the year, while dropping Vanguard to 18-14.

In game one, Cougar pitchers Ian Thompson, Grant Harrell, and David Julio combined to limit the opposing lineup to just 6 hits and 2 earned runs over 9 innings. The Cougar lineup delivered 5 runs in the first before running into problems of their own with the Vanguard staff, but the squad held on for a 6-3 win.

Tristan Gale, Scott Shapiro, and Austin Way got the rally going in the first with a trio of one-out singles. With the bases loaded, Terry Moritz, who recently moved to catcher to provide some pop to that position, drove a two-run double to center. Adam Ricciardulli followed that up with a sac fly, which brought up Juan Perez with two outs and a runner on second. Making his first start in nearly a month, Perez came through with an RBI single, and scored on an error by the leftfielder.

With the score 5-0 after just a half an inning, it was Ian Thompson's job to hold the lead. He did just that, allowing just one hit in his first three innings of work. He was greeted with a leadoff home run in the 4th, but kept his composure and kept the game at 5-1. The Cougar lineup immediately got the run back on an Austin Way sac fly in the top of the 5th.

Thompson would run into trouble in the bottom of the inning though, as a single and back-to-back walks would load the bases with no outs. With the 5-run lead suddenly not looking so large, Coach Dennis Pugh made the call to bring in reliever Grant Harrell to preserve the game. Harrell, who has the best ERA of anybody in the Cougar bullpen, rose to the task. He struck out the first batter he faced, and after getting the second out on a sac fly, induced a groundout to get the Cougars out of the inning with a still-healthy 6-2 lead.

Harrell wasn't done, however, as he'd throw hitless innings in the 6th and 7th to continue to protect the lead. He may very well have closed out the game if not for committing a throwing error in the 8th, which led to a run and to David Julio being called in. Julio, who could be classified as the Cougars' closer, continued his string of excellent outings. He got the final two outs of the 8th and pitched a perfect 9th, picking up his 3rd save of the year and extending his scoreless innings streak to 6.

In fact, if you look only at Julio's stats as a reliever (not a starter), he has not allowed a single earned run in 15.1 innings pitched this season.

Whereas game one was a combined effort by the pitching staff, game two was all about one Cougar: Scott Shapiro. The senior had electric stuff throughout all 7 innings on Wednesday, surrendering just 3 hits while striking out 5.

More important than his stuff, however, was the fact that Shapiro had his control for really the first time this season. He entered the game having walked 32 hitters - twice as many as the next highest total on the team - in 26.1 innings pitched. But in the 7 innings he threw against Vanguard, he would add just two walks to that total. It is the first complete game shut-out in program history.

Of course, for Shapiro to get the win, the offense needed to post some runs. They got started early, as Spencer Pardon led off the first with a walk, advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt, and scored on a double-play that Shapiro hit into.

It turned out that Shapiro wouldn't need any more support, but the Cougars would build the lead to 2-0 in the third in similar fashion to the first. This time it was Matt Jenkins leading off with a walk, and yet another failed pickoff attempt moved him into scoring position. He took third on a wild pitch, and with runners at the corners and Shapiro at the plate again, he came through with an RBI single.

Then in the 5th, the Cougars plated a pair of insurance runs to bring the game to its final 4-0 score. A walk to Gale and singles by Shapiro and Shane Sullenger loaded the bases with one out, and shortstop Ricardo Moran delivered a 2 RBI single before pitcher Andrew Riddle was able to retire the side.

Shapiro would finish the shutout strong, striking out the final batter of the game. On the season, he's now thrown a team-leading 33.1 innings, posting a 2.70 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 34 walks.

Cougar baseball will finish up its busy week with a game at Master's College on Thursday.