University Southern California Trojans
No. 6 USC Baseball Travels To Texas
February 09, 2000 | Baseball
Feb. 9, 2000
LOS ANGELES - The No. 6 USC baseball team - winner of 12 NCAA championships, more than twice as many as any other school - is off to a 4-1 start in 2000. The Trojans' first six games (one was called due to darkness) involved battles with local foes Pepperdine, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount. This weekend, however, USC packs its bags and heads to Lubbock, Tex., for a three game series (Feb. 11-13) with the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. (4-1) . The matchups, all at Dan Law Field, are Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at noon and Sunday at 1 p.m.
RANKINGS - USC is No. 6 in the latest Baseball America poll. Texas Tech was ranked 18th in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll.
USA BASEBALL - USC coach Mike Gillespie will serve as Head Coach of the 2000 USA Baseball National Team of collegiate all-stars that will play on the US WEST Red, White and Blue Summer Tour. USC assistant coach John Savage will serve as the pitching coach for Team USA.
TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY - No other university can match the collegiate baseball tradition of USC, and it showed when Baseball America awarded the Trojans the title of "Greatest Program of the 20th Century" in its Feb. 1, 1999 issue. Troy has captured an unprecedented 12 NCAA championships (no other school has more than five), 36 conference titles and 19 College World Series appearances (second most in the nation). Legendary former coach Rod Dedeaux was named "Coach of the Century" by both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America. Trojan players have been named All-American first teamers 41 times, and 80 players have gone on to play in the majors, including such stars as Tom Seaver, Fred Lynn, Ron Fairly, Randy Johnson, Mark McGwire, Jeff Cirillo and Bret Boone.
PAC-10 POWERHOUSE - USC, certainly among the strongest teams annually in the Pac-10, has many highlights over the last few years to prove it:
- With its College World Series title in 1998, USC is the only Pacific-10 Conference team to have won a national championship in the last 11 years.
- With 224 victories over the last five seasons (1995-99), USC ranks first among Pac-10 teams.
- USC is the only Pac-10 school to have finished in the Top 10 national rankings in eight of the last 10 years.
- USC has made it to an NCAA Regional final seven straight years (best among Pac-10 teams) and has earned NCAA Tournament bids nine of the last 10 years (tied with Stanford for best in the Pac-10).
- USC has reached the College World Series championship game twice in the last five years (ony one other Pac-10 team has made it once in the last 11 years).
COACH'S CORNER - Mike Gillespie, in his 14th season as the Trojans' head coach, has a 523-294-2 (.641) career record and has led USC to the 1998 national championship, three conference titles (1991-95-96), 11 trips to the NCAA Regionals in 13 years (reaching the regional finals nine times), and trips to the 1995 and 1998 College World Series (Troy finished as the nation's runner-up in 1995). He was named the 1998 National Coach of the Year, the Pac-10 Coach of the Year three times (1991-95-96) and the West Region Coach of the Year twice (1996-98). The starting leftfielder on USC's 1961 NCAA-winning team, he is one of just two men that have both coached and played on championship teams.
COACHING SUPERLATIVES - Legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux was named College Coach of the Century for baseball in the February issue of Coach & Athletic Director Magazine. Dedeaux led the Trojan baseball team to an unprecedented 11 College World Series titles (including 5 in a row in the 1970s) and amassed a 1,332-571-11 record during his 45-year (1942-86) tenure at Troy.
SCOUTING THE RED RAIDERS - Texas Tech is 4-1 on the season. The Red Raiders have scored an amazing 84 runs so far and are averaging nearly 17 runs per game. Texas Tech is hitting .401 as a team and have stolen 10 bases in 10 attempts. Reliever Brandon Roberson, a preseason third team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, will be out at least three weeks with a strained tendon in his right (throwing) elbow. At the plate, Tech has a bevy of heavy hitters. Outfielder Miles Durham is batting .500 and leads the team in hits with 10, while 1B/Dh Chaz Eiguren has a team leading 11 RBIs and is hitting .467. Second baseman Scott Holshauer has a team leading three home runs.
THE SERIES - The Trojans hold a 3-1 edge over the Red Raiders in games played between the two teams. Three of the four games have been decided by one run. USC took two of three in a hard-fought series at Dedeaux Field last season (USC dropped the first game 9-8, but took the last two, 5-3 and 5-4), while the Trojans' first win was an 11-10 decision in the Central Regionals in 1996
PITCHING ROTATION - USC is slated to put sophomore RHP Mark Prior, junior RHP Rik Currier and freshman RHP Anthony Reyes on the mound this weekend. Pepperdine's rotation is RHP Kevin Tracey, LHP Matt Harbin and RHP Chaz Ackerman.
PAC-10 PRESEASON POLL - In a preseason poll of the Pac-10 coaches, USC was picked to finish third. In order, the poll went as follows: Stanford (six first-place votes), UCLA (two first-place votes), USC, Arizona (one first-place vote), California, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State and Oregon State.
NEWS & NOTES - Stanford may have opened the season as the preseason No. 1 team, but the last time that happened (1998), it was USC that won the national championship ... Freshman second baseman Anthony Lunetta's career is off to a blistering start. Through six games Lunetta leads the Trojans in five offensive categories: batting (.591), hits (13), slugging (.955), on base percentage (.655) and total bases (21) ... Trojan pitchers have allowed only three home runs on the season ... Starting pitchers Mark Prior and Rik Currier have a combined 25 strikeouts in 24 innings of work ... USC is hitting .347 as a team and is averaging 6.3 runs per game.
DEDEAUX FIELD - This season marks the 26th year of play at Dedeaux Field, where USC has an all-time record of 550-248-1 (.689). When USC hosted San Diego State on March 30, it was 25 years to the day from when the first game was played at Dedeaux Field. It was a special day, as in the first game of a doubleheader, Russ McQueen threw a no-hitter against California.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES - Junior SS Seth Davidson appears on two preseason All-American teams, as a second-team selection in Collegiate Baseball and a third-team pick in Baseball America. Sophomore RHP Mark Prior, a transfer from Vanderbilt, made the Baseball America second team. In Baseball America's Pac-10 preview, UT Alberto Concepcion was named the conference's Freshman of the Year, Prior, Concepcion and sophomore OF Aaron Fausett were listed as the first, second and fourth top newcomers, respectively, and freshman Anthony Lunetta was named the conference's top defensive second baseman.
WHO'S BACK - The Trojans return only three position starters and one starting pitcher from the 1999 team, but it's a group that makes up a nice nucleus. Junior SS Seth Davidson, a two-time All-Pac-10 pick, starts for the third straight year. Sophomore C Beau Craig was a Freshman All-American last season. Senior 3B Justin Gemoll provides a steady bat and glove. Junior RHP Rik Currier is one of the top strikeout artists in USC history. Other returners who are poised to make a larger impact in 2000 are OF Brian Barre, RHP Tanner Eriksen, LHP Ronald Flores, RHP Pete Montrenes, UT Josh Persell, RHP Tim Petke and UT Josh Self.
WHO'S NEW - It'll be difficult to distinguish the players apart without a program in 2000, as 20 of the 38 players are new to the roster. But it's a talented group, as Collegiate Baseball ranked the newcomers as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country (Baseball America ranked them second). The Trojans have added a pair of transfers from Vanderbilt - RHP Mark Prior and OF Aaron Fausett - and both were named Freshman All-Americans last season. OF Rob Garibaldi was the Northern California JC Player of the Year last season at Santa Rosa. Among the key freshmen are RHP Chad Clark, UT Alberto Concepcion, IF Anthony Lunetta and RHP Anthony Reyes.
1999 RECAP - Despite a rough start, USC rebounded nicely to post a successful season. The Trojans went 36-26 overall, 17-7 for second place in the Pac-10, won their own NCAA Los Angeles Regional and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals before losing at Stanford. LHP Barry Zito was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and was a unanimous All-American first teamer. C Eric Munson and OF/LHP Jason Lane were also named to at least one All-American first team. Early-season injuries and close losses saw the Trojans get off to a 4-11 start, but they went 29-12 the rest of the regular season.
USC Probable Starters
| C | #9 | Beau Craig | (So., 5-11, 175) |
| 1B | #50 | Bill Peavey | (Jr., 6-4, 230) |
| 2B | #24 | Anthony Lunetta | (Fr., 5-9, 170) |
| 3B | #26 | Justin Gemoll | (Sr., 6-2, 2-5) |
| SS | #2 | Seth Davidson | (Jr., 6-0, 165) |
| LF | #33 | Aaron Fausett | (So., 6-1, 215) |
| CF | #6 | Brian Barre | (So., 5-8, 170) |
| RF | #15 | Rob Garibaldi | (So., 5-11, 175) |
| DH | #22 | Josh Persell | (Jr., 6-3, 200) |
| P | #21 | Mark Prior | (So., 6-5, 220) |
| #8 | Rik Currier | (Jr., 5-10, 185) | |
| #23 | Anthony Reyes | (Fr., 6-1, 200) |
