February 28, 1999
LOS ANGELES - USC junior LF Jason Lane had a go-ahead double in the sixth inning and sophomore LHP Steve Smyth threw 3 2/3 innings of excellent relief as the No. 19 Trojan baseball team defeated No. 4 Stanford, 9-7, on Sunday afternoon at Dedeaux Field.
The Trojans avoided a sweep of the three-game series and improved to 5-11. Stanford dropped to 12-5.
The Cardinal held a 7-6 lead entering the bottom of the seventh, but the Trojans put runners on first and second with two out against Stanford freshman LHP Mike Gosling (1-1). Lane laced a double down the right-field line, scoring senior CF Brad Ticehurst and junior C Eric Munson. Munson slid just under the catcher's tag to give USC its first lead of the game, 8-7. Munson then added an RBI single in the eighth inning to close out the scoring.
Smyth, who had come in to pitch in the top of the sixth, retired the final 10 batters of the game. He allowed no hits and two walks and improved to 3-3 in 1999.
Lane went 3-for-4 for the Trojans, while Ticehurst and sophomore SS Seth Davidson had two hits each. Stanford junior DH Craig Thompson went 3-for-4 with two RBI and junior 2B Jeff Rizzo and junior LF Nick Day each had a pair of hits.
USC senior RHP Justin Lehr and Stanford freshman RHP Brian Sager, the two starting pitchers, were hit hard early. The Cardinal scored two runs in each of the first three innings, but USC kept it close with four runs in the bottom of the second and single runs in the third and fourth frames.
USC, which snapped a four-game losing streak, next hosts Michigan on Wednesday (March 3) at Dedeaux Field at 7 p.m.
STAN 222 001 000 - 7 11 1 USC 041 102 01x - 9 11 3
Sager, Gosling (3), Cogan (8) and Alvarado. Lehr, Smyth (6) and Munson.
WP - Smyth (3-3) LP - Gosling (1-1)