Stanford Pitching Knocks USC Out

Defending national champion USC could not have asked for better performances than the ones turned in by Trojan pitchers in an NCAA super-regional series against Stanford.

Unfortunately for USC, Stanford’s pitching was even better.

Maybe the best in the nation.

Stanford right-hander Justin Wayne gave up five hits, struck out 12 and walked only two in eight innings Saturday as Stanford beat USC, 5-3, at Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto to win the best-of-three series and advance to the College World Series.

Stanford (48-13), winner of championships in 1987 and ‘88, will be making its 11th trip to the World Series and its third in five years.

The Cardinal, seeded sixth nationally, opens play in the eight-team double-elimination tournament at Rosenblatt Stadium against the winner of the Ohio State-Cal State Fullerton super-regional.

The schedule for the World Series, which begins Friday, will be announced Monday.

“I think our pitching was just as good if not better, but they didn’t give up many back-to-back base hits and pitched out of problems,” USC catcher Eric Munson said. “Our bats just got cold at the wrong time.”

Stanford pitching had a lot to do with that.

One day after sophomore right-hander Jason Young dealt the Trojans their first shutout of the season--spoiling a two-hitter by Trojan left-hander Barry Zito--Wayne, a sophomore, showed why the Cardinal is regarded as a legitimate threat to win this year’s national title and why it will be an overwhelming favorite next year when the pitching staff is a year older.

Wayne (9-1) was not an unknown commodity to the Trojans (36-26). On Feb. 26, he struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings but got a no-decision in a 10-7 Cardinal victory. On April 17, he pitched a four-hitter and struck out 14 in a 13-2 win over USC.

On Saturday, Wayne struck out Trojan leadoff man Greg Hanoian, No. 3 hitter Jason Lane and No. 7 hitter Brad Ticehurst three times each.

In all this season, he had 35 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings against the Trojans.

“I don’t think I had great stuff,” said Wayne, who struck out the side in the first inning and retired the first 10 batters. “[The Trojans] are a very aggressive team. They got themselves out a little bit.

“I was not dominant or tricky. I just did what I had to do.”

Trojan starter Justin Lehr (7-3), coming off a two-hit shutout against Virginia Commonwealth in regional play, gave up six hits, struck out four and walked four in six-plus innings. Steve Smyth pitched three hitless innings in relief.

“If someone tells you you’re going to go in some place and give up eight hits over two days, you’d think you were going to be in pretty good shape,” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. “But Wayne was very, very good and they played mistake-free. We ran into an outstanding team playing very well.”

Stanford gave Wayne a 3-0 cushion in the third inning.

Nick Day led off with an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error by USC shortstop Seth Davidson.

Lehr then walked Edmund Muth and struck out Eric Bruntlett before giving up a two-run double to Craig Thompson and a run-scoring double to Jeff Rizzo, who drove in the winning run Friday night in the Cardinal’s 1-0 series-opening victory.

USC, the designated home team for the game, answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a single by Dominic Correa that drove in Davidson, who hit a triple with one out.

Munson’s sixth-inning solo home run over the right-field fence made it 3-2, but Stanford extended its lead in the seventh on consecutive triples by Day and Muth and a single by Bruntlett.

Senior left-hander Tony Cogan relieved Wayne to start the ninth and gave up a leadoff double to Carlos Casillas, who scored one out later on Beau Craig’s groundout to second.

Cogan induced Justin Gemoll to ground out to third to end the game and earn his eighth save.

“They’ll be a great representative of our conference in Omaha,” Gillespie said of the Cardinal. “It’s not a stretch to suggest they’ll be the ones standing at the end. But we’re really proud of the way our guys played and I don’t think we have anything to hang our heads about.”

OTHER SUPER-REGIONAL GAMES

Justin Smith allowed three runs over seven innings and Alabama advanced to the College World Series with a 13-5 victory over Louisiana State in Tuscaloosa, Ala. LSU failed to make the World Series for the first time in four years. . . . At Coral Gables, Fla., Kevin Brown hit his 20th homer, a three-run shot in the third inning, and Miami beat Wake Forest, 8-1, to earn its sixth consecutive berth to Omaha. . . . Pinch-hitter John Halliday’s double highlighted a four-run ninth inning at Tallahassee, Fla., that gave Florida State a 6-3 victory over Auburn and a return trip to the Series. . . . Kenny Baugh threw a four-hitter as Rice forced a third game with a 10-1 victory over Southwestern Louisiana at the Astrodome. . . . Clemson stayed alive at College Station, Texas, by defeating Texas A&M;, 10-3. Henri Stanley’s two-run homer keyed a five-run sixth and the Tigers added four more in the seventh. . . . Jason Jennings had a three-run homer and Brian Loeb added a two-run shot in a six-run sixth inning as Baylor pulled away for a 17-7 victory over Oklahoma State at Waco, Texas, forcing a deciding game.