March 26, 2012
STANFORD, Calif.-- No. 2-ranked Stanford (15-3, 2-1 Pac-12) could not over come a five-run first, as USC (14-8, 2-4 Pac-12) salvaged the final game of the series, winning 8-4 on Monday.
USC lefthander Stephen Tarpley (4-0) kept the Cardinal off balance for 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits. Michael Strahan got the final four outs for his second save. Tarpley left with a 5-2 lead and Strahan left the tying run on base in the eighth in a 5-4 game.
Stanford tried to scrape back as Palo Alto freshman Alex Blandino, in his first start, had his first two career hits, including an RBI single as part of a two-run second. Lonnie Kauppila followed Blandino with an RBI single to make it 5-2 as Stanford had a chance to tie it in the inning. With two runners on, Jake Stewart just missed a three-run homer, as his fly ball instead was caught up in the wind and died at the warning track.
Austin Wilson's two-run single in the eighth made it 5-4 against reliever Martin Viramontes, before Strahan got a flyout of Blandino to end the inning. USC tacked on three runs in the top of the ninth.
Kauppila at short, who came in with just five errors all season, made five in the game, including a bobble of a first inning grounder, which would have ended the first. Instead, that first error scored the first of five runs by USC against starter John Hochstatter (3-2).
Hochstatter lasted just 1.2 innings, giving up those five unearned runs on five hits, his shortest outing of the season. A.J. Vanegas relieved Hochstatter and at one point, retired 11 in a row into the seventh. He pitched a career-best 6.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits.
NOTES: Stanford had a .976 fielding percentage and 15 errors over the first 17 games. Of USC's eight runs, seven were unearned, as Stanford committed six errors.... USC righthander Garret Houts robbed Stephen Piscotty of extra bases in the first inning and Stanford shortstop robbed Lonnie Kauppila of a base hit with a backhand in the hole in the second....a moment of silence was taken for Cardinal volleyball player Sam Wopat, who passed away on Sunday... Stanford is scheduled to play at UC Davis on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., before traveling to No. 8-ranked Arizona for games on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at noon.