Moon Pulls USC Into Early Orbit

USC’s Michael Moon was understandably nervous when he took the field Friday for the Trojans’ NCAA regional opener against Oral Roberts.

Moon, a freshman third baseman from Alta Loma, was the only USC starter who had not played in the College World Series, never mind a playoff game.

“With all that experience around me, I wanted to make sure that if I came up in a big situation--that I came through,” Moon said.

Moon did that and more in USC’s 12-4 victory before 1,393 at Dedeaux Field.

He keyed the Trojans’ five-run third inning with a bases-loaded single and capped the inning by stealing home. Moon finished with three of the Trojans’ season-high 17 hits and had three runs batted in.

USC (40-17) will play Pepperdine (42-16)--a 4-0 winner Friday over Fresno State--today at 3 p.m.

Oral Roberts (48-12) will play Fresno State (39-24) in an elimination game at 11 a.m. The winner of that game plays the loser of the USC-Pepperdine game in an elimination game at 7.

Oral Roberts entered Friday’s game with a 14-game winning streak. And with junior right-hander Michael Rogers on the mound, the Golden Eagles appeared to be the toughest No. 4-seeded team in any of the 16 regionals this weekend.

Rogers, 6 feet 3, 190 pounds, was 14-0 with a 2.05 earned-run average. But USC chased him after three-plus innings, his shortest start of the season. He gave up seven runs, seven hits, walked three and struck out two.

“It was just one of those days--I didn’t get it done,” Rogers said.

USC finished with seven extra-base hits. Sophomore catcher Albert Concepcion had three doubles and two RBIs, senior right fielder Abel Montanez had three hits and two RBIs and Bill Peavey had two hits and two RBIs.

Senior right-hander Rik Currier (11-2), pitching in his fourth regional, gave up four runs and seven hits in five-plus innings. Sophomore right-hander Brian Bannister, continuing his late-season success, gave up three hits over the final four innings and earned his fifth save.

The Trojans also were flawless on defense, erasing Oral Roberts’ noted bunting game and holding off the Golden Eagles after they pulled to within 7-4 in the sixth. Senior shortstop Seth Davidson and senior second baseman Josh Self turned double plays in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings.

Brian Barre started the pivotal third inning with a single and moved to second on Davidson’s sacrifice bunt on a 1-and-2 pitch. One out later, Anthony Lunetta walked and Peavey followed with a single that drove in Barre.

Josh Persell singled to load the bases, setting the stage for Moon, who hit a ground ball through the hole between first and second base, easily scoring Lunetta and Peavey. Persell scored when right fielder Chad Stewart’s throw to the plate rolled into the Trojan dugout, giving USC a 4-0 lead.

Moon advanced to third on the play and, knowing the Trojans had stolen home twice this season, looked to the dugout as Self got ready to bat.

“I could see that [USC Coach Mike Gillespie] was thinking, ‘We might want to do this,’ ” Moon said of stealing home.

Rogers, who has a very deliberate windup, threw a ball on the first pitch to Self. As he began his windup for the next pitch, Moon broke for the plate and slid under catcher Brian Hickman’s tag.

Pepperdine 4, Fresno State 0--Dan Haren (11-3) pitched a five-hitter and also drove in a run with a double as the second-seeded Waves shut out the Bulldogs for the first time.

Jared Pitney’s second-inning homer was all the support Haren needed. Haren struck out five and walked one in his first shutout and sixth complete game of the season.