USC tames 'Bows' bats to even series
POSTED: Sunday, March 14, 2010
A day after Southern Cal gave one away, the Trojans took one right back.
Matt Foat went 2-for-3 with an RBI and the Trojans scored the go-ahead runs on two Hawaii errors to defeat the Rainbows 3-1 last night in front of a season-high Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 3,593.
Ben Mount (2-1) outdueled UH's Sam Spangler (1-3) as both pitchers had career highs in strikeouts.
Mount, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, went the distance for the first time in his career, allowing one run on five hits and eight strikeouts with no walks to help the Trojans (7-8) even the series at one game apiece.
“;What I'm excited about is these kids bounced back (from Friday) and there was a lot of energy on the field,”; said USC coach Chad Kreuter, whose team committed three errors in one inning in an 8-2 loss that day.
“;Ben's really started developing and growing into that big body and he's really started to come into his stride.”;
Spangler struck out a career-high 11 in 6 2/3 innings, but had to leave the game after two Hawaii errors gave USC a 3-1 lead in the seventh.
Spangler didn't walk a batter and allowed seven hits and three runs (two earned) to take the loss for the Rainbows (7-7), who fell back to .500 for the season.
“;Both pitchers made the most of the zone they were working with,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;They stayed off the plate and were able to get ahead a lot.”;
Pi'ikea Kitamura led off the ninth with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. Mount, who threw 112 pitches (80 strikes), battled back to strike out Sean Montplaisir and Greg Garcia looking. After a brief visit from Kreuter, Mount got Kolten Wong to bounce into a fielders choice at second to end the game.
“;We had pitched Wong one way all night and I just wanted to remind (Mount) that (Wong) wasn't going to beat us with a cheap hit,”; Kreuter said. “;A home run ties things up, so let's make them string together a couple of hits.”;
Runs were at a premium with both starters on top of their games. USC got to Spangler with a run in the first inning on a two-out RBI double by Foat to score Garret Houts.
Mount blew through the Rainbows' lineup the first time around, striking out four in a row at one point. He retired the first 10 batters he faced before Garcia's one-out single in the fourth.
Hawaii evened the score at 1-all in the fifth, taking advantage of a leadoff single by David Freitas. Collin Bennett worked Mount to a full count before punching a ball to right to put men on first and third.
Mount came back to get Kevin Macdonald to ground into a double play, but Freitas scored to put Hawaii on the board.
Spangler, who struck out the side in the third, retired 10 in a row after Foat's first-inning hit.
“;That was the best stuff I've had all year,”; Spangler said. “;That's what I want to have every outing I go out and I need to work hard to be able to do that.”;
Jawanza Starling led off the sixth with an infield hit, beating out a slow roller to second that Wong couldn't field cleanly. The speedy freshman stole second on the very next pitch but was picked off two batters later.
Foat would be the man to allow USC to retake the lead, lining a triple off the wall in right field with one out in the seventh. Christian Johnson crashed into the wall trying to make the catch, allowing the ball to get away. Foat advanced to third and was able to score after Johnson misplayed the ball as he tried to relay it back into the infield.
It was one of two errors in the inning by Hawaii. Cade Kreuter laced a two-out double to the wall in left-center, but Adam Landecker was held at third until Garcia's relay throw to home sailed over the head of Freitas, allowing Landecker to score.
“;It was a tough loss,”; Spangler said. “;(Mount) really, really pitched well. He threw from the stretch the whole time, which I've never seen before, but it works for him.”;
Notes
Hawaii entered the game with the No. 1 strength of schedule and No. 2 RPI according to Warrennolan.com. ... UH senior Nate Klein had an MRI yesterday and Trapasso said they were still awaiting the results. ... Hawaii sophomore Matt Sisto (1-2, 7.13) is scheduled to start today's game at 1:05 p.m. against USC's Kevin Couture (0-0, 6.75).
USC 3, Hawaii 1
| USC | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | |
| De Pinto 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Montplaisir lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Houts rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Garcia ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Oropesa 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wong 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Foat lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Freitas c | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Hart 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bennett cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Kreuter dh | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Landecker ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Van Doornum dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Roundtree c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnson rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Starling cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Kitamura 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Totals | 32 | 3 | 7 | 1 | Totals | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0
|
|
| USC | 100 | 000 | 200 | — | 3 | 7 | 0 | |||
| Hawaii | 000 | 010 | 000 | — | 1 | 5 | 2 |
E—Garcia, Johnson. DP—USC 1 LOB—USC 2, Hawaii 2. 2B—Foat, Landecker. 3B—Foat. SB—Houts, Starling. CS—Krueter, Garcia.
| USC | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Mount (W, 2-1) | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Spangler (L, 1-3) | 6 2/3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| Walters | 2 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Umpires—Ken Eldridge (Third); Kevin Daugherty (Plate); Steven Corvi (First).
T—2:16. A—3,593.
Hawaii 8, USC 2
Friday's late box score
| USC | AB | R | H | BI | Hawaii | AB | R | H | BI | |
| O'Neill cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Montplaisir lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| De Pinto 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Garcia ss | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Oropesa 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Wong 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Foat lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Freitas c | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Sherrod rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Bennett cf/rf | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Hart 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Macdonald 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Castillo ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Van Doornum dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Kreuter dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnson rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Glenn ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Almadova cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Roundtree c | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | Kitamura 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wrenn ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 34 | 2 | 8 | 2 | Totals | 29 | 8 | 7 | 6
|
|
| USC | 010 | 010 | 000 | — | 2 | 8 | 3 | |||
| Hawaii | 000 | 000 | 44x | — | 8 | 7 | 1 |
E—Hart, Triggs 2, Freitas. DP—USC 2. LOB—USC 4, Hawaii 4. 2B—Oropesa, Foat, Bennett. SH—Freitas. SB—Roundtree 2, Hart. CS—Sherrod, Wong, Johnson.
| USC | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||||
| Triggs (L, 1-1) | 6 1/3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |||||||
| Mezger | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Dedeaux | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Cabral | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Berhel | 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| Hawaii | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||||||
| Klein | 1 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||||||
| Capaul (W, 3-1) | 5 1/3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |||||||
| Linsky | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||
| Gallagher | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WP—Capaul. BK—Capaul.
Umpires—Ken Eldridge (Plate); Kevin Daugherty (First); Steven Corvi (Third).
T—3:00. A—2,815.
