USC
Missouri
USC Earns 9-3 Win Over Missouri In Season Opener
February 19, 2011 | Baseball
Feb. 19, 2011
LOS ANGELES - Alex Sherrod went 3-for-5 with a double as the USC Trojans opened the 2011 season with a 9-3 win over the Missouri Tigers at Dedeaux Field. Mike Greco and Garret Houts had two hits and two RBI each as the Trojans banged out 14 hits in their first USC Tournament action, giving USC interim head coach Frank Cruz his first win on the year.
Senior reliever Chris Mezger picked up the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the second, USC second baseman Joe De Pinto singled to lead off the inning. Sherrod then hit a hard ground ball off the glove of Mizzou first baseman Dane Opel that bounced over the wall near the first base dugout for a ground-rule double. Greco then singled home De Pinto for the first run, followed by Alex Glenn being hit by a pitch to load the bases. Houts then hit a two-run single to run for a 3-0 lead.
USC made it a 5-0 lead in the fourth, scoring twice with two outs. After James Roberts walked and Houts hit an infield single, Kevin Roundtree lifted a fly ball to center that was mishandled by Brannon Champagne to allow two runs to score.
The Tigers scored their lone runs with three in the fifth inning. Blake Brown, Jesse Santo and Jonah Schmidt hit RBI doubles to knock out USC starter Andrew Triggs before the Trojan bullpen combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings to preserve the lead.
Three insurance runs in the eighth aided USC as Sherrod capped the scoring with an RBI single.
USC plays Cal Poly at 2 p.m. today in the second game of a doubleheader. The tournament concludes tomorrow with Missouri playing North Carolina at 10 a. m. and USC playing North Carolina at 2 p.m. Gametracker live stats will be available for all three games with a live video webcast for the two USC games on usctrojans.com.
MU 000-030-000---3-7-3USC 030-210-03x---9-14-1
WP - Mezger (1-0) LP - Zastryzny (0-1)T - 2:52 ATT - 303Records: Missouri (1-1), USC (1-0)
Zastryzny, Emens (5), McCormick (6), Buehler (7), Scardino (8), Hudelson (8) and Plackis.Triggs, Mezger (5), Munson (7), Douthit (7), Garcia (8), McCaffery (9) and Roundtree.
