March 25, 2000
Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Catcher Beau Craig went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored to lead the 20th-ranked USC Trojans to a 12-7 win over the Washington State Cougar baseball team Saturday afternoon in Pac-10 play at Dedeaux Field.
The win improved the Trojans season record to 18-9 and 2-0 in Pac-10 play after winning their third straight game. After winning four straight, the Cougars have dropped two in a row and are now 12-15 on the year and 2-3 in conference action.
USC starter Rik Currier turned in a magnificent pitching performance to earn the win and improve his record to 6-2 on the year. The junior right-hander scattered seven hits and allowed only three runs in his 7.2 innings pitched. With his seven strikeouts, Currier moved into a tie for 10th place in the USC career record books with 246.
WSU starter Tyson Thompson (Bothell, Wash.) looked to be in control through the first two innings, but ran into a barrage of explosive USC hitters in the third. Thompson took the loss to fall to 1-4 on the year after allowing six hits and five runs in just 2.2 innings pitched. The WSU starting pitchers have not recorded a win since Thompson's win Feb. 13 against Gonzaga.
WSU held a brief 1-0 lead after the first inning when senior shortstop Shawn Stevenson (Everett, Wash.) scored on a RBI single from designated hitter Zach Bode (Issaquah, Wash.).
Down 1-0, the Trojans exploded for all 12 of their runs in the third, fourth and fifth frames. USC tallied five runs in the third with the big blow coming from first baseman Bill Peavey's two-run home run over the right field fence. Third baseman Justin Gemoll added to the scoring with a two-run triple down the right field line.
In the fourth, the Trojans roughed up the WSU bullpen of Zach Fisher (Port Orchard, Wash.) and Les McTavish (Slave Lake, Alberta) for six more runs. Craig continued his hot hitting with a triple to center field to plate two runs. Back-to-back home runs from Gemoll and designated hitter Josh Persell helped extend USC's lead to a commanding 12-1. Gemoll ended the day with a pair of hits and five RBI. Freshman second baseman Anthony Lunetta was 3-for-4 with three runs scored.
The Cougars finally got to Currier in the sixth by scoring their first run since the first frame. Senior Ray Hattenburg (Spokane, Wash.) led the inning off with his sixth double of the season and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore Bookie Gates (Seattle, Wash.).
WSU jumped on the comeback trail in the ninth as they rallied for four runs. Consecutive singles from Gates and pinch-hitter Wes Falkenborg (Redmond, Wash.) led the inning off. Stevenson scored a run with his third hit of the afternoon and set the table for freshman slugger Stefan Bailie (Mesa, Wash.). Bailie clubbed his team-leading seventh homer of the year for a three-run shot and pulled WSU to within five runs, 12-7. The rally was cut short when relief pitcher Brian Bannister coaxed Hattenburg into grounding out into a 6-4-3 double play.
Stevenson was the lone Cougar to record three hits, while Hattenburg, Bode and Gates each had two apiece. When Falkenborg recorded a pinch-hit single in the ninth, the redshirt freshman extended his hitting streak to five games and he is now 5-for-7 (.714) as a pinch-hitter in 2000.
The Cougars and Trojans will complete the three-game series Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. game at Dedeaux Field. Senior right-hander Reggie Rivard (0-2, 8.20) will start on the mound for WSU, squaring off against USC's Anthony Reyes.
WSU 100 001 014 - 7 11 0
USC 005 610 00x - 12 17 0
Tyson Thompson, Zach Fisher (3), Les McTavish (4), and Jon Baeder.
Rik Currier, Rondald Flores (8), Raul Lepe (9), Brian Bannister (9), and Beau Craig, Alberto Concepcion (8).
W - Currier (6-2),L - Thompson (1-4), S - None, HR - Bailie (7), Gemoll (6), Persell (2), Peavey (3).
T - 2:57, A - 506.
WSU Hits - Stevenson 3, Bailie, Hattenburg 2, Bode 2, Gates 2, Falkenborg.
USC Hits - Self 2, Davidson, Lunetta 3, Craig 3, Garabaldi, Gemoll 2, Persell, Prior, Peavey, Verbryke.
2B - Hattenburg (6), Davidson, Lunetta, 3B - Craig.
c-o-u-g-s
Copy By Jeff R. Evans
WSU Sports Information
