BASEBALL / COLLEGE WORLD SERIES : Bats Keep USC Alive Another Day, 16-11

USC knew that winning the College World Series was not going to be easy and the Trojans appear to be doing everything they can to prove it.

USC eliminated Florida State on Tuesday with a 16-11 victory that featured the Trojans’ usual barrage on offense. The question facing USC as it tries to reach Saturday’s championship game is whether the Trojans can survive their own pitching staff.

Sixth-seeded USC had a 14-2 lead against the second-seeded Seminoles, but were threatened to the end by a team that got a series-record three home runs from freshman outfielder J.D. Drew and two more from junior first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.

Geoff Jenkins and Jacque Jones hit homers for USC as the teams set a series record with seven.

“Ideally, of course, it takes good pitching, hitting and defense to win, no matter where you play,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. “Today, I guess good hitting was enough. But just barely.”

USC (47-20) will play unbeaten and third-seeded Miami today. The Trojans, who lost to the Hurricanes in their opener, 15-10, must beat them today, then again Friday to make the final.

Florida State (53-16) leaves Omaha without a national title for the 14th time. “We haven’t been humiliated like that all season,” Coach Mike Martin said.

USC had 17 hits, but faced the prospect of blowing the biggest lead in College World Series history until Justin Parle, the fourth Trojan pitcher, ended the game by getting Mientkiewicz to ground out with two on--and Drew on deck.

“I sensed a little urgency over there,” Mientkiewicz said of the Trojans. “You could tell they were getting a little nervous.”

Actually, the Trojans were more than a little concerned as the Seminoles came back. USC, after all, came into the game with a 9.00 earned-run average in the series. And that was before the pitchers surrendered 10 earned runs against the Seminoles, who had 14 hits.

“We were very happy not to see Drew again in the ninth,” Gillespie said. “In that sense, I think our pitching got the job done.”

Junior right-hander Brian Cooper (8-2) gave up five runs, four hits and struck out five in five-plus innings. Cooper was replaced by Jack Krawczyk after he hit Scott Zech at the start of the sixth with USC leading, 15-5.

“I would have liked to have given the pen a rest with a good strong seven innings,” said Cooper, who walked five. “It just didn’t happen.”

Mientkiewicz gave Florida State a 2-0 lead in the top of first with his 18th homer, but USC came back to score six runs in the bottom of the inning and chased junior left-hander Steven Morgan (4-3) before he could record an out. The Trojans went on to score in all of the first six innings, but were blanked their final two at-bats.

“We got up early and had a lull where we breezed through a couple of innings,” said Jenkins, who homered in the second inning to put USC ahead, 7-2. “Both teams were going to battle to the end. Neither one of us wanted to go home.”

Jones had four hits and Wes Rachels and Greg Walbridge each had three for USC. Rachels also was credited with a steal of home in the fourth when Florida State catcher Mike Martin Jr. trotted to the mound without calling time.

Drew hit a two-run homer in the fifth, a two-run homer in the seventh and a solo shot in the eighth immediately after Mientkiewicz had hit a three-run bomb.

In Friday’s game against Miami, USC’s Ben Tucker (6-2), a junior right-hander, did not get an out in his start against the Hurricanes. And Miami’s Jason Adge (12-5), a junior right-hander, issued four consecutive walks in a relief appearance before he was pulled.

Tennessee 6, Stanford 2--Junior right-hander Ryan Meyers (10-2) gave up two hits and struck out seven in a complete-game performance that helped the fifth-seeded Volunteers (54-15) eliminate the eighth-seeded Cardinal (40-25).

Tennessee will play Fullerton on Thursday. The Volunteers must beat the top-seeded Titans twice to reach the title game.

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Today’s Game

* Miami (48-15) vs. USC (47-20), 4:36 p.m. PDT

* TV: ESPN, ESPN2.