USC Gambles Against Akron and Now Will See If It Pays Off

More important than what happened on the field during USC’s 20-10 victory over Akron on Thursday in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament was what didn’t.

Not one of the Trojans’ top three starters--Randy Flores, Seth Etherton or Scott Henderson--threw a pitch in the opening game of the Central II Regional at Lubbock, Texas, as USC Coach Mike Gillespie gambled that his team could outhit the Zips while he saved his best arms.

“Once we saw how the field shaped up, we figured that if we were going to play to win this thing, then we didn’t have a choice,” Gillespie said of the decision to start freshman Steve Immel, who had only six starts before Thursday.

Immel was told late Wednesday he would be the guy. Junior Paul Sanchez, who has pitched only five innings this season, would be the second option. And senior Justin Parle, with 26 innings pitched in 1996, also might get some work.

All three pitched, and all showed why they are not a major part of the rotation, but they held Akron enough to let USC win the school’s opener in the double-elimination tournament. The Trojans got 21 hits, eight during a nine-run second inning and turned a 1-0 Akron lead into a rout.

“Obviously, it was a hitter’s day,” Akron Coach Dave Fross said. “But more for them than us.”

Every USC starter had at least one hit and scored a run.

Akron threw three right-handers at a USC lineup heavy with right-handed hitters, in front of 1,285 at Dan Law Field, where the wind was blowing out.

“It is a hitter’s paradise,” said Jacque Jones, who hit a three-run homer in the second inning. “I took a few swings in practice [Wednesday] and got all wide-eyed. The balls fly out in this park.”

The Trojans next play Arkansas--which lost to Oklahoma State, 6-5. Flores will start.

“If we would have lost, it would have been difficult to say that we were knocked out without having thrown one or two of our top three guys,” Gillespie said. “But it worked and now we will see how it serves us.”