Feb. 22, 2006
LOS ANGELES - San Diego State got an excellent performance from starting pitcher Will Miller and three relievers along with some timely hitting as it defeated 24th-ranked USC, 6-1, at Dedeaux Field Tuesday night. Along the way, the Aztecs turned a triple play, their first since the 2002 season. It was SDSU's first victory on the Trojans' home field since 1995. With the win, San Diego State moved to 4-7 on the season while USC fell to 7-5.
The Aztecs opened the scoring with a run in the opening frame as Joseph Scaperotta drew a one-out walk, stole second and came home on Brock Ungricht's single to right off Trojan starter Shawn Olsen (1-1).
They upped their advantage to 5-0 with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, a single by Paul Smyth was followed by an RBI double off the bat of Tim O'Brien, the first of his pair of two-baggers on the night. A single by Joey Huskins advanced O'Brien to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Nick Romero.
In the next inning, the Aztecs scored twice on base hits by Jordan Swaydan and Smyth along with a pair of USC errors.
Miller, meanwhile, was holding the Trojans scoreless over his six innings of work as he scattered three hits and did not allow more than one Trojan base runner in any inning. It was the first start of the year for the senior right-hander who picked up the win to improve to 1-0.
The Aztecs tacked on their sixth run in the eighth inning as O'Brien led off with his second double, advanced to third on a wild pitched and scored on Huskins' ground out to second.
The Trojans mounted a threat in the bottom of the inning, scoring an unearned run and putting men on first and second with no outs against Bruce Billings, who had come on in relief. With both runners on the move, USC's Roberto Lopez hit a line drive that was caught by second baseman Sam Pepper, who flipped the ball to shortstop Nick Romero who in turn threw to Ungricht at first to complete the triple play.
Senior Adam Simon came on in the bottom of the ninth to retire the side in order and nail down the win.
Up next for San Diego State is a three-game series against UC Irvine that begins on Friday (Feb. 24) at Anteater Ballpark at 6:00 p.m. The second game of the series will be played in Irvine the next evening with the series finale set for Sunday (Feb. 26) at 1:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
San Diego State 6, USC 1SDS 100 220 010 - 6 10 2USC 000 000 010 - 1 5 2Miller, Lynch (7), Billings (8), Simon (9) and SwaydanOlsen, Parrow (4), Dunn (6), Schlack (8), Zelenay (8), Koss (9) and Bowden, Salinas (6)W - Miller (1-0)L - Olsen (1-1)Sv - NoneHR - NoneAtt. - 247Time - 238