NCAA Baseball : USC and Pepperdine Are Ousted; Loyola Wins

Jon Prather batted ninth for Texas Saturday in its Midwest Regional game with USC, so the Trojans thought he’d be the last guy to do anything to help beat them.

Well, USC thought wrong. For openers, Prather hit a bases-loaded triple to highlight a six-run rally in the top of the sixth inning that gave the Longhorns a 6-4 lead.

Then, after USC went ahead with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, he had a sacrifice fly as Texas regained the lead in the seventh inning and went on to win, 11-8, and eliminate the Trojans before 6,777 at Austin, Tex.

Prather, a senior catcher who began play in the double elimination tournament with a .189 batting average, was hitless in the tournament before his triple. It was his first career triple and his first four RBI game at Texas and only his 19th RBI this season, the fewest among Longhorn starters.

USC (41-25), an at-large entry from the Pacific 10 Southern Division, roughed up Texas starter Scott Bryant for four runs in the bottom of the fourth. He was replaced by Curry Harden (2-0) to start the fifth inning.

Bryant, who pitched for the first time since high school on April 29 in relief against Arkansas, was making only his third start. His only win was in the Southwest Conference tournament against Arkansas.

Bryant, who usually serves as the designated hitter for the Longhorns (49-17), leads the nation with 105 runs batted in. He had one against the Trojans. On the mound, he allowed three hits, four runs, three walks and struck out four.

USC’s ninth-place hitter, second baseman Damon Buford, also had a productive day. He went 2 for 4, including a triple, and drove in two runs.

Loyola Marymount 9, Eastern Kentucky 3--Sophomore shortstop Darrel Deak drove in five runs with two singles and a three-run homer to help the Lions stay alive in the West I Regional at Tucson. The Colonels, who lost to Arizona, 12-6, Friday night, were eliminated from the tournament.

WCAC runner-up Loyola (38-23) took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, with one of the runs scoring on a single by Deak. Deak added an RBI single in the fourth, and the Lions scored twice in the seventh on Joe Ciccarella’s double and Travis Tarchione’s single. Deak, Loyola’s No. 8 batter, hit a 400-foot homer in the eighth inning to give the Lions a 9-2 lead.

Brian Clancy, who entered the game in the fifth inning after the first two Eastern Kentucky (38-19-1) batters singled, yielded four hits and one run the rest of the way to raise his record to 5-4.

Wichita State 12, Pepperdine 1--Jim Audley had four hits and three RBIs and the Shockers scored at least one run in the first six innings as they eliminated the Waves at the West II Regional at Fresno.

In all, Wichita State (60-14) had 15 hits. Pepperdine, the West Coast Athletic Conference champion, committed six errors and finished 41-19-1.

Arizona 17, Hawaii 3--Outfielders Kevin Long and Todd Devereaux each drove in four runs as the Pacific 10 Southern Division champion Wildcats eliminated the Rainbows from the West I Regional.

Devereaux and freshman Brian Eldridge had four hits each and Long had three as Arizona (44-16-1) totaled 20 hits off five pitchers. Western Athletic Conference champion Hawaii (40-27) also had to use five pitchers in Friday’s 14-7 loss to Cal State Long Beach.

Louisiana State 13, Nevada Las Vegas 8--Kevin Lofthus hit three home runs and Ethan Flowers had a grand slam in the ninth inning, but their efforts weren’t enough to prevent the Rebels from being eliminated from the Central Regional at College Station, Tex.

Lofthus hit his third homer in the ninth inning off reliever Mark LaRosa to set a school single-season record with 26.