NCAA Baseball : Campanis’ 2 Homers Help USC Come From Behind, 18-17

Catcher Jim Campanis’ second home run of the game highlighted a nine-run sixth inning as USC overcame a six-run deficit, then hung on for an 18-17 victory over Fresno State in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. West I Regional Sunday at Fresno.

USC, 36-24 and unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament, advanced to today’s finals. The Trojans will play the winner of a Sunday night game between Fresno State (53-10) and Washington State (52-13), who they beat Saturday, 10-9.

The winners of the eight regionals advance to the College World Series, which starts Friday night at Omaha.

Campanis’ two-run homer was one of nine hits for USC in the sixth. The Bulldogs also committed two errors that helped the Trojans take a 15-10 lead. Campanis had 3 hits, 6 runs batted in and scored 4 runs. The 2 homers gave him 21, the most for a USC player since Mark McGwire hit 32 in 1984.

The Bulldogs had early leads of 8-2 and 10-4 and collected 21 hits, but they also committed 6 errors. USC had 19 hits in the game, which was played in heavy winds.

Fresno State second baseman Steve Pearse hit a grand slam and was 3 for 6 with 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored. The Bulldogs pulled to within a run in the ninth on a two-run homer by Mike Burton, his fourth hit, but Brian Nichols retired the last three batters and earned his ninth save.

Other hitting stars in the four-hour game included USC’s John Jackson, 4 for 6 with 4 RBIs, and Fresno’s Lance Shebelut, who went 5 for 6.

Arizona St. 27, Nevada Las Vegas 8--The Sun Devils entered the seventh inning of the West II Regional game at Tempe, Ariz., with a 5-3 lead and emerged 35 minutes later leading, 18-3, after sending 17 batters to the plate.

Ricky Candelari had a three-run homer and Martin Peralta hit a two-run homer to highlight the 13-run spurt. Dan Rumsey also homered, a two-run shot in the ninth that made the score 26-8. In all, Arizona State had 31 hits, tying a 14-year-old school record. Steve Willis went 5 for 6, while Peralta, Rumsey, John Finn and Kevin Higgins had four hits apiece.

In the bottom of the seventh, UNLV knocked out Arizona State starter David Cassidy with a five-run rally. Dave Sturdivant, Joe Bellezo and Larry Simms had run-scoring singles during the inning, and Jim Barbeau hit a sacrifice fly. Cassidy, who gave up 11 of the 13 Rebel hits, got the win and raised his record to 8-2.

The Pacific 10 Southern Division champion Sun Devils raised their record to 54-11. The loss eliminated the Rebels (40-22).

California 8, Texas 7--Jim Kuehl’s run-scoring double in the ninth inning gave the Bears the victory over the Longhorns and moved them into the championship game of the Central Regional at Austin, Tex.

It was the first loss of the tournament for Texas (57-10), which had to play an elimination game against Michigan. That game was rained out Sunday night and rescheduled for this afternoon.

The winner of that game plays California (39-23), the only remaining unbeaten team in the regional, in the championship tonight. If California loses, it will play the winner at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Stanford 8, Rutgers 1--Lee Plemel pitched a six-hitter to keep the defending national champion Cardinal in title contention in the Northeast Regional at New Britain, Conn.

Stanford scored 3 runs in the fourth inning on singles by Brian Johnson and Doug Robbins and added 4 in the fifth which was keyed by Troy Paulson’s triple.

Oklahoma State 8, Loyola Marymount 6--The Lions became the first Southland team to be eliminated from postseason competition when Jeromy Burnitz hit a two-run single with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Cowboys the win in the Midwest Regional at Stillwater, Okla.

Ray Ortiz led off the inning with his second homer of the game and Mitch Simons followed with a walk and then stole second base. Loyola reliever Darryl Scott replaced Terry Seward and walked Manny Cervantes. That was followed with a sacrifice bunt by Benny Castillo. After Travis Law struck out, Burnitz singled.

Tim Williams hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to put Loyola ahead, 6-5.

Seward took the loss as Loyola finished the season at 48-18. Oklahoma State, the nation’s top-ranked team, improved to 60-7.

Cal State Fullerton 5, Mississippi State 3--Rex Peters’ single to right with none out in the 12th inning, scored Greg Mannion from third with the winning run. Mannion had singled to center and gone to second on an error by center fielder Jody Hurst, who bobbled the ball. Mannion then went to third on a wild pitch by Mississippi State reliever Pete Young, who took the loss. Fullerton pitcher Paul Johnson got Mississippi State in order in the bottom of the 12th. Johnson (6-3) got the win after pitching 7 innings of relief, in which he allowed 5 hits, 1 run, 12 strikeouts and 1 walk. He relieved starter Danny DeVille in the fifth with two out and bases loaded and Fullerton leading, 3-2. Mississippi State had tied it, 3-3, in the seventh. Brent Mayne had singled in two runs for Fullerton in the fifth to put the Titans ahead, 3-1.