Injuries Take Their Toll on Trojans in Pacific 10

In early February, USC looked as if it would win a third consecutive Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division title, with three top starting pitchers, a fine closer, and several key returning position players. Even Coach Mike Gillespie acknowledged that the Trojans had better than a fair chance.

So why, with the season winding down, is Gillespie’s team 11-10 in conference play and talking about merely getting into the playoffs?

“It has been, without question, the

strangest season I have been a part of,” Gillespie said. “It is like nothing I have even seen.”

Injuries in particular have made the season a tumultuous one. The Trojans have played 30 of 43 games without at least one position player, and several games when it had to scratch a starting pitcher because of illness. The result was the first sweep of USC at Dedeaux Field since 1993 and a season sweep of the Trojans by Stanford (13-2), which has a 3 1/2-game lead over Arizona (11-7). UCLA (9-6) is third.

“[The injuries] have been magnified because of the fact that we are not a deep bunch,” Gillespie said. “We only had 12 position players to begin with.”

Among the injuries:

* Second baseman Wes Rachels missed eight games after his father, Arthur, died in mid-February.

* Catcher and outfielder Jason Brown sat out 19 games because of surgery on his right knee.

* First baseman Greg Walbridge missed three games with a broken eardrum after being hit in the head with a pitch.

* Outfielder Greg Hanoian has missed seven games and is still out because of a shoulder sprain.

* Pitchers Scott Henderson and Steve Immel, alternating as the Trojans’ third starter, have each missed four starts because of illness.

Gillespie says injuries are part of the game, but he had a hard time being philosophical March 24, when pitcher Chris Tessman, who has not played this season, was hit in the eye while fielding a ball during batting practice before a game against UCLA. He spent three days in the hospital because of a bruised retina.

“All of sudden it got to a point where you think we need an exorcist,” Gillespie said. “With [Tessman], it was a very scary deal.”

Since the Stanford sweep last weekend, Gillespie has held morale-boosting meetings with his team. And despite its poor conference record, USC is almost a lock to make the NCAA tournament because of a 19-3 nonconference mark and a No. 12 ranking in Baseball America’s poll.

“Our nonconference mark is very, very good, and the people that need to know that know that,” Gillespie said. “I’ve tried to point out to the players that we have performed very, very well, considering [the injuries]. Of our 13 losses, six have been to Stanford and two to UCLA, and those are two pretty darn good teams.”

USC won its 30th game Tuesday night over Cal State Fullerton, 8-5. It was an important victory, considering that 13 of the Trojans’ final 15 games are on the road.

“It was an important win, because although Fullerton [22-16-1] is having its own troubles, they are still considered a quality opponent,” Gillespie said.

TO ERR IS BRUIN

UCLA dropped two of three at Arizona State last weekend . . . literally.

Seven errors were the main reason for Sunday’s 15-14 loss. Seven of the Sun Devils’ 15 runs were unearned. And despite sophomore Tom Jacquez’s brilliant pitching Saturday--eight innings, no earned runs, eight strikeouts--the Bruins lost, 4-3, because of three unearned runs in the first inning.

“We are last in the Six Pac in fielding percentage and we cannot accomplish what we want to accomplish, which is a high seed at a regional, doing that,” Jacquez said. “We have the hitting, and we are getting solid pitching, but we need to improve defensively.”

Jacquez gives the Bruins a solid No. 2 starter behind Jim Parque (10-0), who pitched his first complete game of the season in the first game of the Sun Devil series. Jacquez, a left-hander, is 7-1 with a 2.20 earned-run average.

TAKING DIFFERENT ROUTS

UC Santa Barbara was involved in two of the season’s stranger games, both in the last five days.

Two grand slams, 46 runs, 55 hits and wind gusts of up to 40 mph were all part of the Gauchos’ 28-18 victory over New Mexico State last Friday.

Santa Barbara tied a school record with 32 hits, including grand slams by second baseman Bryan LaCour in the seventh winning and designated hitter Justin Balser in the eighth. Brad Wright set a school record by getting seven hits in eight at-bats. The game at Las Cruces lasted nearly four hours.

Tuesday, the Gauchos were on the opposite end of a rout, losing to Cal State Northridge, 31-9. The Matadors had 14 runs and 13 hits in the first inning, both school records, and the 31 runs were also a school high.