University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
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USC
Scott Lifts the Bruins Over USC with Solo Shot in Tenth
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
March 8, 1999
WESTWOOD, Calif. -- Sophomore lf Bill Scott blasted a solo shot in the bottom of the tenth to lift the Bruins to an 8-7 triumph over archrival USC Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Scott took lhp Steve Smyth's first offering of the tenth for a ride to deep left-center, hitting his team-high seventh homer of the year, and enabling the Bruins (13-13) to capture two out of three (3-6, 6-5) from the Trojans (7-13) this weekend. Overall, the Bruins hit four homeruns to USC's none. In the sixth inning, freshman 3b Randall Shelley launched his first collegiate homerun to give UCLA a 6-3 advantage. Later that inning, senior ss Jack Santora hit his second homer of the year, a laser to left field that gave the Bruins a four-run lead heading into the seventh. Senior c Jason Green started homer-fest with a two-run job to right-center that gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead going into the third. Sophomore lhp Bobby Roe pitched scoreless ninth and tenth innings to pick up his second victory of the year.
USC tied the game with four runs in the seventh, but were shut out for the remainder of the contest due to strong performances by sophomore rhp Paul Diaz and Roe. The pitching staff was strong all weekend, holding USC to a .212 clip and shutting out 1999 Preseason Player of the Year Eric Munson. Munson was fanned five times and went 0-for-13 over the weekend.
Head Coach Gary Adams was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing the inconsistency of ball and strike calls. Adams was last ejected on April 9, 1998 versus Arizona, a span of 44 ballgames. Today's victory pulls Adams within two of 1,000 career victories. In 30 seasons of collegiate head coaching experience, Adams is 998-725-12.
Prior to his first career game-winning homerun, Scott was 0-for-4 on the afternoon and in jeopardy of snapping his thirteen-game hitting streak. However, the Granada Hills native never lost confidence and refused to go home without making an impact offensively. He now has a career-high 14-game hitting streak and has knocked in at least one run in ten of the last eleven games. During the streak, Scott is hitting a red-hot .407 (22-54), with 6 HR, and 25 RBI. On the season, Scott is batting .337 with a team-high seven HR and 32 RBI. His batting average has gone up 69 points during the streak. This wasn't the first time Scott has come through in the clutch this season. In UCLA's legendary six-run, bottom-of-the-ninth comeback win over Loyola Marymount on Feb. 20, Scott hit the game-tying homer with two outs and one on.
Also starring offensively were sophomore dh Eric Reece and junior rf Brian Baron. Reece recorded his third 3-for-4 game of the season with three singles and a run scored. Since making his first start of the year against California on Feb. 26, the sophomore is batting .526 (10-for-19). Baron was 2-for-5 with a double (fourth of the season) in extending his hitting streak to eleven games. The transfer from Northwestern is batting .333 during the streak.
Next up for the Bruins is a rematch with the Loyola Marymount Lions (10-9) at George Page Stadium on March 9 at 2:00pm. Freshman rhp Brian Strelitz (0-2, 9.88) is expected to make his first collegiate start against a Lion pitcher to be named. UCLA defeated Loyola Marymount 6-5 at the San Diego Baseball Classic on Feb. 20. In the last 25 seasons under Coach Adams, the Bruins are 25-26 versus LMU.
