Trojans Take Down UCLA, Complete Fairytale Weekend
The Trojans didn't wait for a walk-off this time around. In front of a feisty crowd at Dodger Stadium, USC used 14 hits and scored runs in six separate innings to take down No. 6 UCLA (11-4) 8-4 on Sunday afternoon. Topping the rival Bruins capped a fairytale weekend for the Trojans, in which they notched a pair of walk-off wins over No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Texas Christian. The Trojans improve their record to 15-1, and will surely see a significant boost to their No. 25 Baseball America ranking in the next round of polls.
Juniors Timmy Robinson and Blake Lacey each went 2 of 5 with a pair of RBIs, while senior catcher Garrett Stubbs went 2 of 4 with three runs. While his effort might be overlooked by USC's offensive explosion, junior left-hander Tyler Gilbert pitched 3 1/3 innings of three-hit relief to squash any Bruin comeback effort. Freshman starter Mitch Hart (3-0) went 5 2/3 innings and allowed eight hits and four earned runs.
"It just says we don't fear anybody and we're capable of beating anybody," head coach Dan Hubbs said on the team's successful weekend. "We've survived a few punches and haven't gotten knocked out.
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The Trojans weren't caught up in the glitz of Dodger Stadium early, as junior left fielder Bobby Stahel clubbed his first triple of the year. A failed suicide squeeze forced out Stahel at home, but catcher Garrett Stubbs used a wild pitch and groundout to move to third, then got singled home by Timmy Robinson to strike first.
Bruin bats were quiet the first two innings as junior right fielder AJ Ramirez hit a solo home run in the second inning while Robinson tacked on an RBI double in the third to stretch the USC lead to 3-0.
The Trojans continued attacking in the fourth, with as an RBI single from junior shortstop Reggie Southall drove AJ Ramirez home and UCLA starter Cody Poteet out of the game after less than four innings.
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USC continued to do work in the fifth, loading the bases on Bruins freshman Griffin Canning before Lacey's bases-loaded single pushed the lead to 6-3. The Trojans left two men on base to end the inning, but surged on as the sun began to set at Chavez Ravine.
It was a shaky sixth for Hart, as he allowed a Keck double, then advanced the runner to third on a wild pitch before a Perisco groundout cut the deficit to 6-4. He walked UCLA's Kort Peterson, then a Bouchard single put the go-ahead run at the plate. At that point, Hubbs had seen enough. He pulled Hart for Gilbert, who fanned Bono to get out of the jam.
The Trojans didn't let the Bruins be too close for long, though. Dante Flores smacked one to right field that almost cleared the warning track, but was dropped by UCLA's Brett Urabe for an RBI double. Junior DH David Oppenheim drilled Flores home with a single in the next at-bat, stretching the Trojans' lead to 8-4.
From there, Gilbert eased any concerns of a UCLA comeback. The Bruins had a base-runner in each of the final three innings, but a pair of double plays, including the game-ender by UCLA's Kevin Kramer, helped put any scoring threats to bed.
"We were the best team on the field three days in a row," Hubbs said on the Trojans' dominance in the Dodgertown Classic. "We force teams to make mistakes they don't usually do because we play aggressively."
Next up for the Trojans is a trip down to Orange County on Tuesday to take on U.C. Irvine before a three-game series at home against Washington State next weekend.
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