USC, UCLA Are Seriously in Series Hunt

USC and UCLA have never appeared in the College World Series in the same year.

USC has made 19 World Series appearances, its last in 1998 when the Trojans won their record 12th national championship.

UCLA has made two trips to Omaha, in 1969 and 1997.

The Trojans and Bruins, however, can make the 2000 College World Series an L.A. story if they win best-of-three super-regionals that begin today.

It won’t be easy.

USC (41-18) plays Georgia Tech (50-14) at Atlanta, and UCLA (38-24) plays Louisiana State (46-17) at Baton Rouge, La.

Winners of the eight super-regionals advance to the June 9-17 World Series.

USC extended its nation-leading winning streak to 13 games with victories over Virginia Tech, Loyola Marymount and Cal State Fullerton in a regional at Fullerton last weekend.

Georgia Tech, ranked No. 1 in the nation this week by Baseball America, is seeded No. 3 in the tournament. The Yellow Jackets are 31-6 in Russ Chandler Stadium and have won eight consecutive games.

USC defeated Georgia Tech, 9-2, in a game at Fullerton on March 3. The Trojans, however, did not face the Yellow Jackets’ top pitchers, Cory Vance (13-2, 3.21 earned-run average) and Rhett Parrott (8-2, 4.22).

Junior right-hander Rik Currier (13-3) will start tonight for USC against Vance.

Georgia Tech is led by sophomore third baseman Mark Teixeria, batting .422 with 18 home runs and 80 runs batted in.

UCLA advanced to the super-regional by winning a regional at Oklahoma City.

The Bruins, who tied Arizona State and Stanford for the Pacific 10 Conference title, rely on the long ball.

Four Bruins have 17 or more homers. Catcher Forrest Johnson leads the team with 22, second baseman Chase Utley and outfielder Bill Scott each have 21 and first baseman Garrett Atkins has 17.

Junior left-hander Rob Henkel (6-3, 5.59) is hoping the Bruins are at their powerful best tonight at Alex Box Stadium when he faces junior left-hander Brian Tallet (13-3, 3.20).

LSU is led by catcher Brad Cresse, batting .399 with 29 homers and 100 RBIs for the No. 2-seeded Tigers.

“I can’t predict the outcome of the games,” UCLA Coach Gary Adams said. “I’ve tried that this year and when I thought we’d have a pitchers’ duel, we win, 22-21, or something like that, and when I thought there would be a slugfest we’d end up winning or losing, 3-2.”

Other super-regional matchups: Louisiana Lafayette (45-17) at top-seeded South Carolina (55-8); Nebraska (50-15) at No. 8 Stanford (45-14); San Jose State (39-21) at No. 5 Houston (47-16); Mississippi State (41-18) at No. 4 Clemson (48-16); Penn State (45-17) at unseeded Texas (44-19); Miami (40-17-1) at No. 6 Florida State (49-16).

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Super-Regionals

Weekend schedule for NCAA Division I best-of-three series:

TODAY

* USC (41-18) at Georgia Tech (50-14), 4 p.m.

* UCLA (38-24) at Louisiana State (46-17), 5 p.m.

* Nebraska (50-15) at Stanford (45-14), 7 p.m.

* San Jose State (39-21) at Houston (47-16), 5 p.m.

* Penn State (45-17) at Texas (44-19), 5 p.m.

* La. Lafayette (45-17) at S. Carolina (55-8), 4 p.m.

* Mississippi State (41-18) at Clemson (48-16), 4 p.m.

* Miami (40-17-1) at Florida State (49-16), 4 p.m.

SATURDAY

* UCLA at LSU, 1 p.m.

* USC at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m.

* Nebraska at Stanford, 1 p.m.

* San Jose State at Houston, 5 p.m.

* La. Lafayette at South Carolina, 4 p.m.

* Mississippi State at Clemson, 4 p.m.

* Miami at Florida State, 4 p.m.

* Penn State at Texas, 5 p.m.

SUNDAY

(if necessary)

* UCLA at LSU, 11 a.m.

* USC at Georgia Tech, 10:30 a.m.

* Nebraska at Stanford, 1 p.m.

* San Jose State at Houston, noon

* Louisiana Lafayette at South Carolina, 10 a.m.

* Miami at Florida State, 10 a.m.

* Mississippi State at Clemson, 11 a.m.

* Penn State at Texas, noon