University Southern California Trojans
USC
UCLA
USC Baseball Falls To UCLA, 15-5
April 08, 2000 | Baseball
April 8, 2000
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The 24th-ranked UCLA baseball team used a career-day on the mound from sophomore right-hander Josh Karp and an offensive explosion to defeat 14th-ranked USC 15-5 in the second game of a three-game Pacific-10 Conference series at Jackie Robinson Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Karp threw a three-hitter through seven innings and struck out a career and season-high 12 batters, while allowing three runs (two earned) and walking one. With the win, he improves his overall record to 4-1 this season. Karp fanned at least one batter in each inning pitched and struck out the side in the fifth. Two of the hits he allowed were home runs, while the other was a double.
UCLA improves its overall record to 21-13 and 6-2 in the Pac-10, while USC drops to 23-12 overall and 6-2 in league action. The Bruins tie the weekend series 1-1, with the rubber match to be held tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Westwood, as both teams are once again tied for the league lead.
Trojan starter Anthony Reyes (3-4) picked up the loss, lasting four innings and allowing five earned runs on eight hits.
The Bruins scored five runs in the fifth and tied a season-high with seven in the sixth. Junior second baseman Chase Utley and junior left fielder Bill Scott each racked up four hits, while junior center fielder Charles Merricks led the Bruins with a career-high four RBI.
Junior designated hitter Matt Pearl, who entered the game as a pinch-runner for an injured Jim Hemming, had two base hits, good for three RBI. Junior catcher Forrest Johnson also added three RBI on a double and a single.
UCLA led off the fifth with four consecutive hits, including an RBI double by junior first baseman Garrett Atkins. After a walk to junior right fielder Nick Lyon to load the bases, Pearl stepped in with a solid two-run single to center capping the five-run fifth.
Utley then led off the bottom of the sixth with his 11th home run of the season, setting the tone for the rest of the inning. Three consecutive run-scoring singles by Lyon, Pearl and sophomore third baseman Randall Shelley set the stage for a three-run homer by Merricks.
The Trojans scored four of their five runs on home runs, as right fielder Rob Garibaldi and left fielder Brian Barre tagged Karp for long balls in the second and third innings. USC added an unearned run off Karp in the fifth, thanks in part to three Bruin errors. In the eighth inning, shortstop Seth Davison and catcher Alberto Concepcion hit two more solo shots off UCLA reliever Mike Kunes.
