University Southern California Trojans
Trojans Take Series from Cougars
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
March 28, 1999
PULLMAN, Wash. - University of Southern California's starting pitcher Justin Lehr single handedly beat the Washington State Cougar baseball team picking up the victory on the mound and going 2-for-3 with a home run at the plate as the visiting Trojans beat WSU 10-4 Saturday afternoon in a Pacific-10 conference game at Bailey Field.
With the win, the Trojans pulled out of Pullman with a 2-1 series victory after taking the morning game of the Saturday doubleheader. The defending national champion Trojans evened their record at 16-16 and are 7-2 in Pac-10 play. The No. 29 Cougars fell to 16-9 and 1-2 in Pac-10 play.
Lehr, a senior from West Covina, Calif., pitched 6.2 innings while giving up nine hits and three runs to improve his season record to 3-1. At the plate Lehr connected on a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give USC the 4-0 advantage. Rik Currier and Jason Lane also saw mound action for the Trojans.
Washington State starter Todd Meldahl (Butte, Mont.) experienced his roughest start of the year giving up eight runs off 10 Trojan hits in six innings. The junior left-hander struck out five batters and did not record a walk while falling to 3-1 on the season. Les McTavish (Slave Lake, Alberta) and freshman Tyson Thompson (Bothell, Wash.) were effective in their relief appearances giving up one hit apiece in their innings of work.
Both teams were held scoreless until USC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third, starting a string of five consecutive innings in which the Trojans scored at least one run. Greg Hanoian led the Trojans at the plate going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and his fifth home run of the year. Justin Gemoll also recorded a three-hit day going 3-for-4.
The Cougars threatened several times to get back in the game but left the bases loaded twice and stranded 14 runners on base. Shawn Stevenson (Everett, Wash.) capped off a solid weekend of baseball going 3-for-4 at the plate and playing spectacular defense at shortstop. Stevenson was 8-for-13 in the series against USC including a grand slam Saturday. Stevenson is now hitting .327 (37-113) on the year.
"I had been struggling earlier in the season so it is good to go out and hit the ball well against a good team like USC," Stevenson said. "We came out and got runners on base, but we just couldn't get that clutch hit that we needed today to pick up the win."
Sophomore Jason Grove (Walla Walla, Wash.) was 2-for-4 and hit his seventh home run of the year. Since returning to the Cougar lineup last Wednesday after being out for over a month with a broken right thumb, Grove is 6-for-16 with a pair of home runs and three RBIs. Catcher Jeff Scherer (Kennewick, Wash.) added his third home run of the year in the sixth inning.
USC 002 231 200 - 10 15 0 WSU 000 101 110 - 4 11 3Justin Lehr, Rik Currier (7), Jason Lane (8), and Beau Craig. Todd Meldahl, Lanakila Niles (7), Les McTavish (8), Tyson Thompson (9), and Jeff Scherer.
W - Lehr (3-1); L - Meldahl (3-1); S - None. HR - Correa (5), Lehr (4), Gemoll (3), Grove (7), Scherer (3).
T - 2:52; A - 554.
USC Hits - Hanoian 3, Lane 2, Ticehurst, Correa 2, Craig, Persell, Lehr 2, Gemoll 3.
WSU Hits - Stevenson 3, Philley, Grove 2, Hattenburg, Bode, Edler, Scherer, Robertson.
E - Gates (7), Philley (2), Gleason (5). 2B - Lane (7), Correa (7), Gemoll (5), Philley (2), Robertson (5).
