Paul McDaniels

Class

1996
Honors

Baseball (1994-1995)

Paul J. McDaniels was born on March 2, 1977, in Costa Mesa, CA and attended Estancia High School. He played baseball for the Dons, and batted left and threw right, 6' 2", 200 lbs. He played both left and right fields. He was a Conference player at USF, and at McDaniels batted .384 and .389. He was inducted into the Millennium Hall of Fame in 1999. After USF, he played for the Lowell Spinners and the Michigan Battle Cats.

"Third place is a goal that is very reachable," said Head Coach Rich Hill. "We could have easily folded the tent in the third game, but we came out swinging the bat." That's an accurate statement: USF struck first in this one, scoring two in the first inning when centerfielder Jess Taclas led off the game with a bunt single, followed by a plunking of leftfielder Paul McDaniels by LMU freshman starter Sandor Demosthenes. A sacrifice bunt by shortstop Jermaine Clark moved both runners into scoring position. A mangled chance by LMU first baseman Andy Collett on a Hernandez hit allowed both runners to score unearned. In the third, the Dons juiced the bases on a Taclas walk, a McDaniels single, and another hit-by-pitch, with Clark as the victim this time. A fielders' choice off the bat of DH Rob Gabriele forced Taclas at the plate, but not to worry, Hernandez' first RBI came on a sacrifice fly that scored McDaniels. The Lions, though, who had pounded out 25 hits in the first two games, weren't ready to lay down. Jason Hueth blasted a two-out, two-run homer to left-center in the fourth, and singles by Matt Plugge, Ikaika Hoopii, and Mike Peters tied the score in the fifth. USF took the lead again on another Hernandez RBI in the bottom half of that inning, plating McDaniels (who had walked and advanced on an error). But LMU took their first lead in the sixth, scoring two to to make it a 5-4 game. The Dons answered back in the bottom half of the sixth behind second baseman Troy Nakamura, who reached on a bunt, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by third baseman Mark Frizzi, and took third on a wild pitch by Demosthenes. Pinch hitter Francisco Zapata then grounded out to short, tying the game (TheFoghorn).

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