University Southern California Trojans
Zito K's 16 in 4-1 Win Over UCLA
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
April 30, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Junior LHP Barry Zito fanned 16 batters for the third time this year and pitched a two-hit complete game to lead the No. 15 USC baseball team to a 4-1 victory over UCLA in a Pacific-10 Conference game on Friday night at Dedeaux Field.
The Trojans (30-20 overall, 15-4 Pac-10) stayed tied for first place in the Pac-10 with Stanford. The Bruins (24-26, 8-8) had their seven-game Pac-10 win streak come to an end.
In winning his ninth straight start and improving to 7-0 in the Pac-10 after seven starts, Zito allowed just two hits, four walks and one run. Zito also struck out 16 against Oregon State and Arizona earlier this season, and did it once as a freshman when he pitched for UC Santa Barbara. Sixteen strikeouts are the most by a Trojan pitcher since at least 1987 (as far back as USC single-game records are currently available). Zito entered the game ranked No. 4 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.9. After the game, he improved that figure to 13.2 (132 K's in 90 innings).
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on what might have been Zito's only bad pitch of the night. With two outs, UCLA sophomore 3B Nick Lyon homered to center field. The only other hit that Zito allowed also came in the second inning.
USC tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third on senior 2B Dominic Correa's RBI single, and took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth when freshman C Beau Craig doubled and later scored on junior DH Carlos Casilllas' groundout.
In the bottom of the fifth, USC scored its final two runs. Senior RF Greg Hanoian (who had three hits), singled up the middle, followed by a walk to senior LF Jason Lane. Correa moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt. Then, a wild pitch by UCLA sophomore LHP Ryan Carter (1-7) scored Hanoian. The UCLA catcher threw wildly to the plate in an attempt to retire Hanoian, and Lane scored on the throwing error.
Three notable hitting streaks came to an end: USC sophomore SS Seth Davidson at 12 games and UCLA sophomores Chase Utley and Garrett Atkins at 15 games each.
USC and UCLA meet again on Saturday and Sunday (May 1-2), both at 1 p.m., at Dedeaux Field.
UCLA 010-000-000 --- 1-2-1
USC 001-120-00x --- 4-7-1
Carter, Strelitz (8) and Green.
Zito and Craig.
WP -- Zito (10-2) LP -- Carter (1-7).
HR -- UCLA: Lyon (2).
