Back Where He Started

It began for him where it will end, in Omaha.

The alpha was 1995, and for all the things he remembers about USC and that College World Series, for a loss and two saves against Miami and a string of performances that defined his future, Jack Krawczyk most remembers pitching to Mark Kotsay, then of Cal State Fullerton, now of the Florida Marlins, in a situation in which the game was hardly on the line.

USC was behind in the seventh inning and would stay that way.

“Got him on a popup,” says Krawczyk, who had been a setup man and became a closer when Jason Garner was injured late in the 1995 season.

“That kind of showed me I could pitch.”

Kotsay was on his way to leading the Titans to a national championship and winning the most-valuable-player award, hitting two home runs against USC in the championship game.

Krawczyk came in and got him to pop out and then retired the final three batters he faced. He tied a College World Series record by pitching in five of the Trojans’ six games.

“Finished every one of them,” he says, and he has been finishing games ever since.

His college omega begins this weekend when the Trojans go back to Omaha for the first time since ’95. Krawczyk has 21 saves this season, 47 for his career. He needs one more to tie NCAA records in both categories. He’s 2-2, with a 1.71 earned-run average and 44 strikeouts in 42 innings. He has appeared in 30 of USC’s 60 games, which is not bad for a guy whose fastball isn’t, and whose best pitch is a changeup that wouldn’t get a ticket on the Hollywood Freeway.

“That’s the knock on me,” says Krawczyk. “My age--I’m 22--and my fastball.”

Says Dave Snow, the coach at Long Beach State, Krawczyk’s victim on Feb. 1 for his school-record 27th save: “The guy’s amazing. He just does something different, turns that changeup over a little and it sinks and he gets people out with it.”

Often he does it by sinking the pitch outside the strike zone.

“The idea is to let the batter get himself out,” Krawczyk says. “If you get him 0-and-2, you have four chances to let him get himself out.”

The madness or its method has been enough to impress a few scouts, and therein lies Krawczyk’s investment in the series. He pitched 3 2/3 innings Sunday to save the Trojans’ 5-3 win over South Alabama that: 1) gave USC the East Regional championship, 2) put the Trojans in the College World Series and 3) cost Krawczyk money.

For a pitcher who lives and dies on control, he has lost control of his baseball destiny.

Because he is a fifth-year senior, a fillip in the major league draft rules would have made him a free agent if the Trojans hadn’t reached the College World Series. Cleveland, Houston and Boston scouts had contacted the family, which is led by former professional pitcher Tom Krawczyk, and there wasn’t going to be a lot of money available, but there was going to be an opportunity to try his hand in the minor leagues.

That ran out at midnight Monday, and he awaits the draft and fate, while he offers stability to a USC team that can use it.

The Trojans had set Omaha as their goal as the season opened, but that looked a long way away when they headed for Tempe, Ariz., on April 9. USC had opened the season with a 27-5 record and had been ranked as high as second, then dropped a game to Fullerton and two to then No. 1 Stanford, before beating the Cardinal on Sunday, April 5, and Hawaii Hilo on Monday.

And then came trouble at Tempe.

“No question, that was easily the low point in our season,” Trojan Coach Mike Gillespie says.

“Just before we got on the bus to go to Arizona State, we found out that [catcher] Eric Munson was hurt.”

Munson, who is on the U.S. national team, had 13 homers at the time, and he was well on his way to justifying his preseason All-American status when he suffered a stress fracture in his foot.

Perhaps as bad, Munson’s backup at catcher, Jeff DePippo, had fallen down a flight of steps while doing his laundry and suffered torn rib cartilage. That left seldom-used Josh Townsend to catch a pitching staff that was hammered, 18-3, 7-5, 24-4, by the Sun Devils.

“I didn’t even get to pitch in that series, and I hated that,” said Krawczyk, a native of Scottsdale who grew up an Arizona State fan and who is enamored of the idea that the Sun Devils are also in Omaha this week because he would love to pitch against them.

“I was the only pitcher who didn’t get to pitch.”

A 12-6 loss three days later to Loyola Marymount gave USC a 2-7 record for that nine-game span.

Worse, Munson was still out and got back only for the season’s final series, against Portland State, before becoming the East Regional most valuable player by going 10 for 18 as the designated hitter.

The Trojans righted themselves the next weekend by sweeping California, with Krawczyk picking up two saves, and are 12-4 since. That includes back-to-back wins over South Alabama in which Krawczyk saved both games.

And now they are off to Omaha, USC for the 19th time, Krawczyk for his last.

Pitching and power records have fallen along the way, the Trojans hitting a school-record 97 home runs, Munson hitting 14 of those and third baseman Morgan Ensberg hitting 19.

The pitching staff has set a school strikeout record with 523, and ace Seth Etherton has struck out a nation-leading 162 in 122 2/3 innings.

Etherton and Krawczyk have offered stability “because with them, you know what you’re going to get,” Gillespie says. “They’ve been consistent.”

What you’re going to get is a quality start from Etherton, who will test that quality in fourth-seeded USC’s series opener against fifth-seeded and two-time defending national champion Louisiana State on national television Saturday.

And what you’re going to get is College World Series experience from Krawczyk, who relishes the idea of going back to Omaha, where it all started, and where he wants to end it on a high.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

USC AT A GLANCE

THE COACH

Name: Mike Gillespie

Years: 12

Record: 478-266-2 (.642)

YEAR BY YEAR

*--*

Year W L T Pct. W L 1987 32** 28** 0** .533** 12*** 18*** 1988 36** 26** 0** .581** 13*** 17*** 1989 41** 25** 0** .621** 16*** 14*** 1990 40** 22** 0** .645** 18*** 12*** 1991* 46** 17** 1** .727** 23*** 7*** 1992 28** 26** 0** .519** 13*** 17*** 1993 35** 29** 0** .547** 15*** 15*** 1994 41** 20** 0** .672** 19*** 11*** 1995* 49** 21** 0** .700** 21*** 9*** 1996* 44** 16** 1** .730** 24*** 6*** 1997 42** 20** 0** .677** 17*** 13*** 1998 44** 16** 0** .733** 21*** 9***

*--*

* First in Pac-10

** OVERALL

*** PAC-10

THE TEAM

Record: 44-16

Conference: 21-9

Home: 20-9

Away: 18-6

Neutral: 6-1

POSSIBLE BATTING ORDER

*--*

Player Pos. Avg. 1. Wes Rachels 2B .323 2. Greg Hanolan CF .350 3. Robb Gorr 1B .351 4. Morgan Ensberg 3B .356 5. Eric Munson DH .380 6. Seth Davidson SS .333 7. Brad Ticehurst RF .297 8. Jeremy Freitas LF .326 9. Jeff DePippo C .273

*--*

OTHER KEY BATTERS

Jason Lane, OF/P: .305

Rod Perry, OF: .236

Team batting: .322

TOP PITCHERS

Jack Krawczyk: 2-2, 1.72 ERA, 21 saves

Seth Etherton: 12-3, 2.86

Jason Lane: 8-1, 4.94

Steve Immel: 5-1, 5.72

Team ERA: 4.90

SERIES SCHEDULE

NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

First game: Saturday vs. Louisiana State (46-17), 10:30 a.m.

* WHEN: Friday-June 6

* WHERE: Omaha

* TEAMS: USC, Long Beach State, Arizona State, Florida, Miami, Florida State, Louisiana State, Mississippi State.

* SOUTHLAND ROOTS: Area continues to serve Florida Coach Andy Lopez well. C7