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Monday, June 12, 2000

Associated Press
Hawaii's Justin Wayne set a Stanford record
with his 15th victory yesterday.

Justin Wayne
pushes Stanford
onward

Punahou graduate puts
thinking cap on to stay sharp
during a rain delay in CWS
win over Clemson

By Kalani Simpson
Special to the Star-Bulletin

OMAHA, Neb. -- When Stanford's Justin Wayne had to wait during a 60-minute rain delay, he was thinking.

He was thinking of ways to keep his body and mind loose and fresh. He was thinking of how he had overcome similar situations in the past. He was thinking he wanted to get back on the mound and stay there.

"It's been my job all year to battle as long as I can, and we've had a lot of success doing things that way," he said.

He was not determined to retire early because of a break in the action.

"Coach would talk to me after the sixth, after the seventh. It was always my response: I want to be in there," he said.

Wayne, the Punahou graduate, was in there for 7 innings, picking up the 10-4 win over Clemson yesterday as Stanford put itself one win away from a College World Series final berth.

The win was Wayne's 15th of the season, a new Cardinal record. But the number Wayne was concerned with was two: two down, two to go.

If Stanford wins again Wednesday, it plays for the national title Saturday. (If not, it gets another chance Friday in the double-elimination format.)

"Winning the first two is huge," Wayne said. "Now maybe my only other chance to pitch here is in the championship game."

Stanford put itself in position for a run at the title with three runs before the delay and then four runs after --through the fourth, fifth and sixth innings --for a 7-0 lead.

"If nothing else, I think it sent a message to them that we were ready to play," Cardinal right fielder Joe Borchard said of the re-start with Wayne still on the mound. We knew Justin was going to come out for us."

But after the break, Wayne was not 100 percent.

"My changeup wasn't there," he said. "My curveball was nonexistent. I was just throwing strikes with my fastball and my slider and letting my defense do a good job behind me."

It worked. On five occasions the determined Wayne had Tigers on second or third base, only to leave Clemson empty handed at the end of the inning.

"Those are the spots you have to win," he said. "If you win those particular spots, you'll win the game. With these guys behind me, it's easy to get out of those spots.

"I put them on there, the least I can do is help get them out."

Said frustrated Clemson third baseman Khalil Greene: "He was real tough on right-handed batters, real tough on me personally. When he had men in scoring position, he would just bear down."

Clemson finally got to Wayne in the bottom of the sixth inning, when a walk, two hits and a sacrifice fly broke the shutout and narrowed the Stanford lead to 7-2. Wayne bounced back with a 1-2-3 seventh, but two consecutive singles in the eighth sent him to the dugout for good. He was upset at finally having to give up the ball, he said, but satisfied with the end result, a win.

Stanford coach Mark Marquess made no apologies for throwing his ace so long with the game seemingly in hand.

"I'm not going to approach it any different than I did all year," he said. "When Justin and Jason (Young) go out there, they're pitching seven innings, pitching seven, eight innings."

Marquess said he was still unsure if Young or Brian Sager would get the next start for Stanford.

Wayne, however, will have to wait. Maybe until the NCAA championship game.

---

BASEBALL

College World Series

At Omaha, Neb.

Times HST

Yesterday

Stanford 10, Clemson 4

Louisiana-Lafayette 6, San Jose State 3

Today

USC (44-18) vs. LSU (49-17), 9 a.m.

Florida State (51-18) vs. Texas (46-20), 1 p.m.

Stanford	003	121	030--10	12	1
Clemson	000	002	002-- 4	12	1

Wayne, Bruksch (8) and Alvarado; Lynn, Proto (4), Additon (4), Childs (5), Glaser (8), Boozer (8), LaMura (9) and Ellis, Pyzik. W--Wayne. L--Lynn.

San Jose St.	001	000	200--3	5	1
Louisiana-Lafayette	020	020	11x--6	10	1

Baker, Adinolfi (5), Murphy (8) and Shorsher; Dohmann, O'Brien (7) and Massiatte. W--Dohmann. L--Baker. Sv--O'Brien. HR--San Jose St., Fagan. Louisiana-Lafayette, Massiatte.