UCLA
USC
Bruins Defeat USC
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
May 1, 1999
LOS ANGELES - The UCLA baseball team rallied for three runs in the ninth inning to defeat No. 15 USC, 3-2, in a Pacific-10 Conference game on Saturday afternoon at Dedeaux Field in front of a crowd of 1,242.
The Bruins (25-26, 9-8 Pac-10) have now won seven out of the last eight conference games. The victory was UCLA's fifth ninth-inning comeback triumph of the year.
USC senior RHP Justin Lehr pitched eight shutout innings and the Trojans held a 2-0 lead entering the ninth inning. After the first out, UCLA sophomore 2B Chase Utley singled to center field (his third hit), and sophomore RHP Rik Currier replaced Lehr. Currier walked sophomore LF Bill Scott, and Currier was pulled in favor of senior RHP Dominic Correa (1-1).
Sophomore 1B Garrett Atkins lined a single off the right-field wall, scoring Utley and moving junior of Michael Hymes, who pinch-ran for Scott, to second base. Correa struck out the next batter for the second out. Senior C Jason Green worked his way to a 1-2 count, fouled off four straight pitches, then slapped an RBI single into right field to score Hymes and move Atkins to second base.
Sophomore RF Matt Pearl then hit a ground ball down the first-base line, which USC junior 1B Carlos Casillas dove for and stopped. Pearl beat out Casillas' throw to Correa for a single, and Atkins hustled all the way from second base to score the go-ahead run.
The Trojans went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, making a winner out of sophomore RHP Chad Cislak (4-1), who pitched a scoreless three innings of relief.
Freshman rhp Josh Karp kept the Bruins poised for the win with another fantastic outing. The freshman out of Bothell, WA shut down the Trojans on one run (earned) off just five hits in six innings of work.
USC senior LF Jason Lane's 18th home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth, gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead. USC (30-21, 15-5 Pac-10) got its second run in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman C Beau Craig walked with the bases loaded and no one out to make it 2-0, but Cislak struck out the next batter, then, as he has done so many times this season, got a 463 double play to end the threat.
UCLA's 3-2 victory snapped two dubious streaks. The Bruins had gone 404 games without winning a game when scoring three runs or less before today. In addition, UCLA snapped it's 120-game losing streak when scoring three runs or less. It's last victory was a 3-2 count in 1992 over Mississippi State at the NCAA Mideast Regional.
USC and UCLA close out the three-game series on Sunday (May 2) at 1 p.m. at Dedeaux Field.
UCLA 000 000 003 - 3 11 2 USC 000 010 100 - 2 8 0Karp, Birkins (7), Dersom (7), Cislak (7) and Green. Lehr, Currier (9), Correa (9) and Craig.
WP -- Cislak (4-1) LP -- Correa (1-1). HR -- USC: Lane (18).
