University Southern California Trojans
Saturday, February 17
Los Angeles, CA
2:00 PM
USC
1-1
5
vs
4
Utah Valley
1-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Utah Valley
0
3
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
4
9
1
USC
0
0
0
0
1
0
4
0
X
5
7
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Beller, John (1-0)
L: Schultz,Paxton (0-1)
S: Lunn, Connor (1)
Batting:
RBI: Howell,Trevor 1 ; Peterson,Trevor 1 ; Estrada,Paul 1 ; Modler,David 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Moltzan,Callahan 1 ; Sims,Drew 1 ; Berry,Jake 1 ; Estrada,Paul 1
Batting:
HR: Nootbaar, Lars 1 ; Acosta, Matthew 1
RBI: Nootbaar, Lars 1 ; Acosta, Matthew 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Nootbaar, Lars 2 ; Acosta, Matthew 1 ; Shockey, Brady 1 ; Bushor, Chase 1
SB: Shockey, Brady 1
HBP: Shockey, Brady 1 ; Bushor, Chase 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballPhoto by: John McGillen
Acosta's Late Homer Lifts Trojans Past Utah Valley, 5-4
February 17, 2018 | Baseball, Features
LOS ANGELES – Matthew Acosta hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead the USC baseball team past Utah Valley, 5-4, at home on Saturday afternoon.
The win evens the series at 1-1 and sets up the rubber game for tomorrow at 1 p.m.
The visiting Wolverines went up 3-0 after loading the bases and getting a single and two walks in the second inning. Trojan starter Quentin Longrie limited the damage with a big groundout and would get USC through four innings before exiting. An RBI single in the fourth put Utah Valley up 4-0.
Lars Nootbaar finally woke up the Trojan bats in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a towering home run that found its way out down the right-field line. Nootbaar was again in on the action in the seventh, drawing the third of three straight free passes to open the inning (walk, hit-by-pitch, walk) and set up a bases-loaded and no outs situation. Brady Shockey would score on a wild pitch and then, just one pitch later, Acosta sent a rocket well over the right-field fence to put USC up 5-4.
Brad Wegman threw a perfect eighth inning of relief and then Connor Lunn got the save after stranding a runner on second with a strikeout. Brian Gursky and John Beller also tossed scoreless relief appearances in their collegiate debuts, with Gursky replacing Longrie and tossing 2.0 scoreless, and Beller picking up the win after throwing a 1-2-3 top of the seventh. The Trojan bullpen retired 12 of the final 13 batters to end the game.
TOP PERFORMERS
"We were resilient today," said Head Coach Dan Hubbs. "Quentin had a tough inning, but did a great job to bounce back. Then the bullpen came in and threw exceptionally well. Gursky tossed two scoreless in his first college game, Beller threw one scoreless in his debut, and then Wegman and Lunn did what we expect them to do."
"What's even more promising is that we saw the bats come alive a little bit," said Hubbs. "We got into their bullpen and got some guys on. Then Acosta's shot cemented it. He really squared that ball up and gave us the jolt we needed. That gave us the lead and we were able to slam the door from there. It's easy when you get behind for the second day in a row to get down a little, but the guys kept putting together good at-bats and we were able to break through."
"We knew their pitcher had a good fastball and curveball, so I just wanted to get something where I could elevate the ball and move the runners up," said Acosta of his big at-bat in the seventh. "I got something I could handle and was just able to put a good swing on it. It was big for us to get this win today and get some momentum going forward."
COMING UP
The Trojans close out their series with Utah Valley tomorrow at 1 p.m. USC then travels to Long Beach State on Tuesday for the team's first midweek contest.
The win evens the series at 1-1 and sets up the rubber game for tomorrow at 1 p.m.
The visiting Wolverines went up 3-0 after loading the bases and getting a single and two walks in the second inning. Trojan starter Quentin Longrie limited the damage with a big groundout and would get USC through four innings before exiting. An RBI single in the fourth put Utah Valley up 4-0.
Lars Nootbaar finally woke up the Trojan bats in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a towering home run that found its way out down the right-field line. Nootbaar was again in on the action in the seventh, drawing the third of three straight free passes to open the inning (walk, hit-by-pitch, walk) and set up a bases-loaded and no outs situation. Brady Shockey would score on a wild pitch and then, just one pitch later, Acosta sent a rocket well over the right-field fence to put USC up 5-4.
Brad Wegman threw a perfect eighth inning of relief and then Connor Lunn got the save after stranding a runner on second with a strikeout. Brian Gursky and John Beller also tossed scoreless relief appearances in their collegiate debuts, with Gursky replacing Longrie and tossing 2.0 scoreless, and Beller picking up the win after throwing a 1-2-3 top of the seventh. The Trojan bullpen retired 12 of the final 13 batters to end the game.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Acosta hit a three-run homer, his first of the season.
- Nootbaar hit a solo-shot and scored twice, going 1-for-3 on the day.
- Blake Sabol had the lone multi-hit day, going 2-for-4.
- Beller and Wegman each threw perfect relief innings.
"We were resilient today," said Head Coach Dan Hubbs. "Quentin had a tough inning, but did a great job to bounce back. Then the bullpen came in and threw exceptionally well. Gursky tossed two scoreless in his first college game, Beller threw one scoreless in his debut, and then Wegman and Lunn did what we expect them to do."
"What's even more promising is that we saw the bats come alive a little bit," said Hubbs. "We got into their bullpen and got some guys on. Then Acosta's shot cemented it. He really squared that ball up and gave us the jolt we needed. That gave us the lead and we were able to slam the door from there. It's easy when you get behind for the second day in a row to get down a little, but the guys kept putting together good at-bats and we were able to break through."
"We knew their pitcher had a good fastball and curveball, so I just wanted to get something where I could elevate the ball and move the runners up," said Acosta of his big at-bat in the seventh. "I got something I could handle and was just able to put a good swing on it. It was big for us to get this win today and get some momentum going forward."
COMING UP
The Trojans close out their series with Utah Valley tomorrow at 1 p.m. USC then travels to Long Beach State on Tuesday for the team's first midweek contest.
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