USC Forces Game Three, Defeats Oregon State 9-8 In 10 Innings.
June 12, 2005 | Baseball
June 12, 2005
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Billy Hart's bases-loaded infield single in the 10th inning scored the winning run and No. 18 Southern California rallied late to defeat No. 18 Oregon State 9-8 Sunday night, evening the NCAA Super Regional series at one game apiece. The Beavers (45-10 overall) saw USC score twice in the eighth inning and three times in the ninth to tie the game before winning in the 10th.
"I hope they react Monday like they've reacted all year long," OSU head coach Pat Casey said of the Beavers. "We'll find out a lot about ourselves tomorrow, what guys we really have, what kind of competitors we are. If it were the third game today, it would be a pretty tough pill to swallow."
The winner of Monday's 1 p.m. game at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field will advance to the College World Series starting Friday in Omaha, Neb. The start time for the game has been moved up three hours to accommodate ESPN2's programming schedule; the game can also be heard on KEJO-AM (1240) in the mid-Willamette Valley and KUIK-AM (1360) in the Portland area.
Oregon State capitalized on eight Trojan errors for a 10-4 victory in the first game of the NCAA Super Regional. In the second game, they held an uneasy 5-3 lead in the seventh inning when Mitch Canham launched a three-run home run to right-center.
But the Trojans (41-21) rallied with two runs in the eighth inning and three more in the ninth to tie it.
To open USC's tenth, Roberto Lopez was hit by reliever Kevin Gunderson (6-3), then went to second on Blake Sharpe's base hit. An out later, Gunderson hit catcher Jeff Clement to load the bases. Eddie Kunz gave up the single to Hart.
Paul Koss (4-1) earned the victory, allowing three runs on two hits over 4 1/3 innings.
The Pacific-10 conference champion Beavers, riding the momentum of their first postseason in 19 years, appeared to be on their way to Omaha. Ryan Gipson hit a two-run home run for the Beavers in the fourth inning off USC starter Jack Spradlin. Danny Anderson added a solo homer in the fifth to make it 3-0.
The Trojans narrowed it to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Zach Kalter scored on Matt Cusick's fielder's choice grounder, and Cusick scored when Gipson dropped Hart's routine popup to second.
The Beavers added a pair of runs in the sixth. Tyler Graham reached on a bunt and Canham scored. USC first baseman Cusick threw home rather than getting the out at first, and his throw to catcher Clement didn't make it in time.
Jacoby Ellsbury scored while USC was focused on Graham, who was caught stealing second.
With a trip to Omaha in jeopardy, the Trojans suddenly came to life in the eighth inning. Oregon State shortstop Darwin Barney misplayed Baron Frost's grounder and Cyle Hankerd scored.
An out later, Beavers Gunderson loaded the bases before facing Sharpe, who sacrificed to right to make it 8-5. Cusick struck out to end the threat.
"I think we made plenty of mistakes by the eighth - I don't think we relaxed at all," Casey said. "I thought we quit competing at the plate, and didn't compete at all at the plate after we got the five-run lead. We just basically surrendered some at-bats late in the game."
Clement hit a solo home run for Southern California in the ninth, Frost added an RBI grounder and Hector Estrella hit a run-scoring single to tie it at 8-all.
Spradlin allowed three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Oregon State starter Jonah Nickerson allowed three runs on seven hits over 5 1/2 innings. He also struck out four.
Oregon State 8 (45-10) Southern California 9 (41-21)Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- Jacoby Ellsbury cf......... 5 1 2 0 Blake Sharpe ss............ 5 0 1 1 Tyler Graham lf............ 3 0 0 1 Matt Cusick 1b............. 6 1 2 1 Darwin Barney ss........... 4 0 2 0 Jeff Clement c............. 4 1 2 1 Andy Jenkins 1b............ 4 0 0 0 Billy Hart 3b.............. 5 1 2 1 Danny Anderson rf.......... 5 1 1 1 Cyle Hankerd rf............ 5 1 1 0 Shea McFeely 3b............ 4 1 1 0 Spencer Pabst pr/cf....... 0 1 0 0 Cole Gillespie dh.......... 4 1 1 0 Baron Frost dh............. 5 2 2 1 Mitch Canham c............. 4 3 2 3 Hector Estrella 2b......... 4 0 1 1 Ryan Gipson 2b............. 4 1 1 2 Zack Kalter cf............. 4 1 2 1 Chris Kunda 2b............ 1 0 0 0 Darin Vieira ph/lf........ 1 0 0 0 Jonah Nickerson p.......... 0 0 0 0 Roberto Lopez lf/rf........ 4 0 3 0 Nate Fogle p.............. 0 0 0 0 Dale Legaspi pr........... 0 1 0 0 Kevin Gunderson p......... 0 0 0 0 Jack Spradlin p............ 0 0 0 0 Eddie Kunz p.............. 0 0 0 0 Paul Koss p............... 0 0 0 0 Totals..................... 38 8 10 7 Totals..................... 43 9 16 7
Score by Innings R H E --------------------------------------------- Oregon State........ 000 212 300 0 - 8 10 4 Southern California. 000 021 023 1 - 9 16 1 ---------------------------------------------
Note: 1 out, 3 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - Barney; Anderson; Gipson 2; Spradlin. DP - Oregon St. 1; So. Calif. 1. LOB - Oregon St. 8; So. Calif. 12. 2B - Hankerd; Frost. HR - Anderson; Canham; Gipson; Clement. HBP - Jenkins; Gillespie; Canham; Clement 2; Estrella; Lopez. SH - Graham. SF - Sharpe. SB - Ellsbury; McFeely. CS - Graham; Estrella; Lopez.
Oregon State IP H R ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------ Jonah Nickerson ........... 5.1 7 3 2 1 4 Nate Fogle ................ 1.2 3 2 2 0 0 Kevin Gunderson L,6-3..... 2.1 5 4 2 0 4 Eddie Kunz ................ 0.0 1 0 0 0 0
Southern California IP H R ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------ Jack Spradlin ............. 5.1 8 5 5 3 4 Paul Koss W,4-1........... 4.2 2 3 3 1 7
HBP - by Nickerson (Clement); by Spradlin (Jenkins); by Spradlin (Canham); by Koss (Gillespie); by Gunderson (Estrella); by Gunderson (Lopez); by Gunderson (Clement). PB - Canham.
Umpires - HP: Scott Erby 1B: Scott Graham 2B: Tony Maners 3B: A.J. Lostaglio Start: 6:07 PM Time: 4:14 Attendance: 3068
Fogle faced 2 batters in the 8th.
