November 12, 2001 Ankiel Chokes, Dogs Triumph CHICAGO, IL - The highlight of Rick Ankiel's BDBL career may turn out to be his win against his former teammates in Game Three of the Eck League Division Series against the Kansas Law Dogs. But the lowlight may very well be today's Game Seven loss in which he allowed five earned runs on five hits, five walks and a wild pitch through just two innings. Darryl Kile, pitching for the second time this series on three days of rest, allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings, good enough to take home the win as the Kansas Law Dogs head to Akron for the Eck League Championship Series. Ankiel wasted no time putting his team into a hole. In the first inning, he allowed a walk to Jay Bell and a two-run homer to Ivan Rodriguez. With two outs in the frame, he then walked three batters in a row before uncorking a wild pitch that plated another Kansas run. He then walked a fourth batter before striking out Kile to end his misery. After a three-up, three-down inning by his teammates gave him little time to forget what just happened, Ankiel took to the mound to start the second. The first two batters he faced both ripped singles, putting runners at the corners for the heart of the Kansas lineup. Rodriguez then grounded into a 5-4-3 double play that oddly froze lead runner Chris Stynes at third. But Stynes scored when the next batter, Jermaine Dye, lined a single to center. After another three-up, three-down inning, Ankiel served up a double to the first batter he faced in the third, Troy Glaus. That brought an end to his day as Johnny "Way Back" Wasdin was summoned from the pen by beleaguered manager John Gill. Wasdin loaded the bases with one out on an intentional walk and a single by Kile. Hipolito Pichardo then came on to face Stynes, who blooped a base hit into right, scoring another Kansas run. That made it a 5-0 game. In the fourth, Kansas strung together another run on back-to-back-to-back singles followed by a double-play grounder. After three straight three-up, three-down innings, Chicago finally put a run on the board in the fourth when Nomar Garciaparra and Carlos Delgado connected for back-to-back doubles. But Kile left Delgado stranded in scoring position when he struck out Richard Hidalgo and retired Todd Hundley on a pop fly to center. Chicago cut Kansas's lead to three runs in the fifth when Pat Burrell connected off Kile for a two-run blast. But Kansas got both runs back in the seventh on an RBI pinch hit triple by Jose Canseco and an RBI single by Stynes. In the eighth, Kansas struck again, tagging Chicago closer Paul Wilson for two runs on a two-run, two-out double by Luis Gonzalez. The Law Dogs advance to the 2001 ELCS, where they will pit their league-best lineup against Pedro Martinez, Tim Hudson and the Akron Ryche.