USC Gets 22 Hits in Rout of Pepperdine : College baseball: Trojans also pound out four home runs in 17-7 victory before record crowd of 2,887.

When USC bid to host the NCAA West I baseball regional, it hoped the home-field advantage would help the Trojans gain their first berth in the College World Series since 1978.

The Trojans were 29-4 at home during the regular season, and the familiar surroundings of Dedeaux Field figured to aid the Trojans on their road to Omaha, site of the World Series.

But only in their wildest dreams could the Trojans have expected to get the fan support they received Saturday against Pepperdine.

Energized by a record crowd of 2,887, USC hit four home runs and on its way to a 17-7 victory that eliminated the Waves from the tournament.

“You never see a crowd like this at USC,” said Trojan shortstop Billy Morris, who had three hits and drove in four runs. “Looking up and seeing it packed was big lift for us.”

Today at noon, USC will play Creighton, which defeated Minnesota, 8-3, in the late game Saturday night. USC and Creighton are the double-elimination regional’s only unbeaten teams.

Hawaii, which eliminated Middle Tennessee State, 7-3, earlier Saturday, plays Minnesota at 4 p.m. The winner of that game plays the loser of the game between USC and Creighton at 8.

Morris, Mark Smith, Corey Aurand and Mike Robertson hit home runs for the Trojans, who had a season-high 22 hits.

Aurand, a senior outfielder who had three hits in Friday’s victory over Middle Tennessee State, had four more against Pepperdine. He now has a 22-game hitting streak, four short of the school record set by Tim Tolman in 1978--the year of 11-time national champion USC’s last title.

Like Morris, Smith had three hits and drove in four runs. Casey Burrill also had three hits, while Robertson, Murph Proctor, Jeff Cirillo and Brett Jenkins added two apiece.

The Trojans got a solid outing from junior right-hander Jackie Nickell (9-4), who gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings.

“We were about as good as we can be,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said.

Pepperdine, meanwhile, was about as bad as it can be. The Waves entered the game with a 3.15 earned-run average after a 5-3 loss to Creighton in the opener, but USC chased starter Jerry Aschoff (6-5) after 1 2/3 innings and went through four other Pepperdine pitchers.

“One of the things that hurt us these last two games is we made (pitching) mistakes over the middle of the plate,” said Pepperdine Coach Andy Lopez, whose team finished 41-17-1.

USC led, 6-3, after five innings before breaking the game open with seven runs in the sixth.

With the bases loaded and one out, reliever Derek Wallace surrendered a two-run double to Jenkins. Burrill and Robertson followed with a run-scoring single and double, respectively, before Morris stepped up and hit a three-run homer over the left-field fence.

USC was the visiting team, and Smith gave the Trojans the lead in the first inning with his 16th homer, a three-run shot over the left-field fence.

Proctor and Smith provided run-scoring singles in the second inning to give the Trojans a 5-0 lead.

Pepperdine scored two runs in the second inning when Nickell unleashed a wild pitch with the bases loaded and catcher Mike Mancuso committed an error on his throw back to the plate.

Pepperdine first baseman Dan Melendez, who had three hits, hit a solo home run in the third inning that pulled the Waves to within 5-3. But after that, it was all USC.

After the Trojans defeated Midddle Tennessee State, 7-5, on Friday, Gillespie had lamented his team’s inability to put its opponent away. But USC had no trouble finishing off Pepperdine.

“We approached this game a lot different,” Aurand said. “I think everyone just realized last night that you can’t take anybody lightly.

“When we play like this we can beat anybody.”

Mike McCafferty had three hits and two RBIs and freshman right-hander Alan Benes gave up three runs in seven innings to lead Creighton over Minnesota.

Hawaii stayed in contention on the strength of a complete-game performance by left-hander Scott Karl (10-4), a sophomore from Carlsbad. Karl gave up seven hits, struck out nine and benefited from the Rainbow Warriors’ three-run sixth inning that broke open the game.