Prior, Concepcion Lift USC Over No. 1 Stanford, 2-1

USC’s Mark Prior was not as sharp as expected at the outset of Friday night’s Pacific 10 Conference showdown against top-ranked Stanford.

“I don’t know why, but I was not as fired up as I needed to be,” said Prior, a junior right-hander who is regarded as the top pitcher in the nation.

Prior (11-1) gave up a first-inning run but was his typical overpowering self the rest of the way as No. 8 USC defeated the Cardinal, 2-1, before 1,176 at Dedeaux Field in the opening game of a key conference series.

Sophomore catcher Alberto Concepcion provided the game-winning hit, leading off the eighth inning with a solo home run against Stanford ace Jeremy Guthrie (8-2).

USC, which was swept by the Cardinal in a three-game nonconference series in March, improved to 28-13, 9-4 in conference play. Stanford (31-9) leads the Pac-10 at 10-3.

“I think this victory gives us the boost we need,” said Prior, who was 0-3 against the Cardinal, including a 2-0 loss in a matchup against Guthrie on March 9. “We needed to know that we can beat a team of this caliber.”

Prior bounced back after walking Chris O’Riordan and surrendering a run-scoring double to Carlos Quentin in the first inning, and came back strong after a 22-minute, third-inning rain delay to pitch his fourth complete game.

Prior lowered his earned-run average to 1.18. He has struck out 135 batters and walked only 12 in 91 2/3 innings.

In Pac-10 games, he is 5-0 with a 0.41 ERA and has 62 strikeouts and only four walks in 44 innings.

“He has an overpowering fastball and he did a nice job spotting it tonight,” Stanford Coach Mark Marquess said. “He probably threw more curveballs tonight than he did last time we faced him.”

USC had six hits against Guthrie, including three in a row in the fourth inning that helped the Trojans tie the score, 1-1. Brian Barre led off with an infield single, Seth Davidson followed with a single up the middle for his school-record 283rd career hit, and Anthony Lunetta drove in Barre with a single to left.

Guthrie retired the side in order the next three innings before Concepcion drove the first pitch of the eighth over the wall in right-center field.

“I tried to go outside, off the plate a couple of inches, and he did a great job taking it to the opposite field,” Guthrie said.