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USC Hangs On For 3-2 Win At No. 17 San Diego
April 2, 2008 SAN DIEGO - Sophomore Kevin Couture (Coronado/Coronado HS) threw eight innings Wednesday while sophomore catcher/pitcher Robert Stock (Westlake Village/Agoura HS) earned his first save of the season as the USC Trojans upset the No. 17 ranked San Diego Toreros, 3-2. San Diego put runners at second and third in the ninth with no outs, but Stock recorded two key strikeouts to preserve the win. Stock threw in his second straight game after pitching 1 1/3 perfect innings with three strikeouts in last night's 7-5 win at home against UC Riverside. Couture (2-2) bounced back after his last start where he gave up eight runs in 1 2/3 innings at No. 1 Arizona State on Saturday. He gave up just one earned run on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts. USC (13-14) scored twice in the first on Derek Perren's two-run double off starter Kyle Blair. Josh Romanski hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 USC lead and the Toreros tied it in the third on Kevin Hansen's RBI single down the right field line after Logan Gelbrich reached second on a two-base error by USC third baseman Joe De Pinto. The Trojans put runners at first and third in the fifth as Roberto Lopez lifted a fly ball that right fielder James Meador lost in the sun, dropping to his right as Nick Buss scored the eventual game-winner. After catching eight innings, Stock came into the ninth as a reliever and gave up a single to Hansen. Jose Valerio then hit a chopper to Grant Green, who threw the ball away at first and put runners at second and third with no outs. Stock then struck out pinch hitter Victor Sanchez, but then hit pinch hitter Ryan Davis to load the bases. The sophomore responded by striking out Kevin Muno looking and got Sean Nicol to fly out to left to secure the victory.
Ricardo Pecina (1-2) was the hard-luck loser after throwing seven innings in relief, allowing just one run on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. He struck out the side in the eighth. USC plays a Pac-10 series at No. 23 UCLA, Friday-Sunday (April 4-6). Friday's game starts at 6 p.m. with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and 1 p.m. start on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast (audio only) on usctrojans.com. USC 200-010-000---3-6-2 USD 101-000-000---2-8-1 |
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