February 26, 1999
LOS ANGELES - The No. 19 USC baseball team had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth inning but could not score and the Trojans fell to No. 4 Stanford, 10-7, in a non-conference game on Friday night at Dedeaux Field.
With the loss, USC fell to 4-10 overall on the season, while the Cardinal improved to 11-4. The ragged game, which saw both teams commit five errors, lasted three hours and 54 minutes.
In the bottom of the sixth, USC senior DH Justin Lehr slugged a three-run home run and senior RF Greg Hanoian added an RBI triple to give the Trojans a 7-5 lead.
But the lead was short-lived, as Stanford rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh, the final three coming on a home run by junior 2B Jeff Rizzo. That gave the Cardinal a 9-7 lead, and junior 1B John Gall made it 10-7 in the top of the eighth with an RBI single.
With a walk, error and single, the Trojans loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but the final two USC hitters struck out as Stanford senior LHP Tony Cogan earned his fourth save. Cardinal freshman RHP Dan Rich (1-0) got the win in relief.
In seven of USC's 10 losses, the Trojans have had the tying run either on base or at the plate when the final out was made.
Rizzo and junior RF Nick Day both went 4-for-5 for Stanford. Freshman 3B Beau Craig went 3-for-5 with two RBI for the Trojans.
USC junior LHP Barry Zito started and went six innings with 11 strikeouts. He gave up five runs, but only two were earned. Junior RHP Raul Lepe (0-1) took the loss.
USC and Stanford continue their three-game series with games on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 27-28) at 1 p.m.
STAN 000 203 410 - 10 14 5 USC 020 005 000 - 7 11 5
Wayne, Drew (6), Rich (6), Cogan (8) and Alvarado. Zito, Lepe (7), Montrenes (7), Todd (9), Bruksch (9) and Munson.
WP - Rich (1-0) LP - Lepe (0-1) SV - Cogan (4) HR: USC - Lehr (3); STAN - Alvarado (2), Rizzo (1).