NCAA BASEBALL TOURNAMENT : USC Falls; Plays LSU for Title Today

Wes Grisham, who had only two hits in his previous 17 at-bats, hit a home run to key a four-run seventh inning as Louisiana State beat USC, 5-4, Sunday in the championship round of the NCAA South I Regional at Baton Rouge, La.

LSU (51-17) needed to defeat the Trojans twice. The title game Sunday night was postponed until 10 a.m. PDT today because of rain and 50-m.p.h. winds. The winner will advance to the College World Series starting Friday at Omaha.

USC (40-21) was unbeaten in the tournament after beating LSU, 5-4, Saturday.

“These have been two of the greatest college baseball games that I’ve been involved in,” LSU Coach Skip Bertman said. “LSU and USC are evenly matched. They may be a little stronger, but we have the home-field advantage.”

LSU opened the scoring in the third inning when Ron Lim tripled and scored on Keith Osik’s sacrifice fly. Bret Boone then tied the game in the fifth with a solo homer to right, his 11th of the year and fifth of the tournament. In four tournament games, Boone is 11 for 19 with 10 RBIs.

The Tigers took the lead when Grisham drove Randy Powers’ pitch over the left-field fence. The Trojans scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, one on Jeff Cirillo’s sixth homer of the year.

LSU’s Chad Ogea (14-1) won his 14th consecutive game, going 7 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out six. Trojan ace Randy Powers (11-3) went the distance, yielding eight hits and two walks.

“We will not dwell on the disadvantage or the advantage of today’s game being lost,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. “Nobody likes to play a doubleheader, but we would have preferred to tend to business tonight.”

UCLA 7, Wichita State 5--There will be a new College World Series champion as a result of the Bruins eliminating the Shockers from the Midwest Regional at Wichita, Kan.

Chris Pritchett’s two-run double sparked a four-run rally in the seventh inning as UCLA (41-26) advanced to today’s championship round.

The Bruins will play Georgia Southern today with the winner meeting South Alabama for the title. South Alabama beat Georgia Southern, 3-2, later Sunday.

Pritchett’s double followed a run-scoring single by Robbie Katzaroff and gave the Bruins a 6-2 lead. Pritchett had two hits, giving him 102 for the season to break the school record of 100 set by Eric Karros in 1988.

Wichita State (45-19) rallied in the top of the eighth and scored three runs. Carl Hall drove in a run with a single and two more runs scored on bases-loaded walks. But Michael Vdovkin came in with one out and the bases loaded and retired the side.

Vdovkin, a 6-7 right-hander, got the Shockers in order in the ninth for his fourth save.

Oklahoma State 17, Arizona State 9--Jeremy Burnitz drove in five runs to lead the Cowboys in the third round of the West II Regional at Tempe, Ariz.

Oklahoma State (52-16), the only undefeated team left in the regional, will play in today’s championship game against the winner of Sunday night’s Arizona State (51-15)-Washington State (48-18) game.

Sun Devil ace Sean Rees (13-3) gave up five runs in one-plus innings, and Rusty Silcox gave up the other five runs in the second without retiring a batter.