Stanford outlasts Trojans

Stanford second baseman Colin Walsh’s single to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in two runs to break a 1-1 tie, and the No. 19 Stanford Cardinal protected their lead to beat the Trojans, 3-1, Sunday in the rubber game of a three-game set at Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, Calif.

Starter Brett Mooneyham (1-3) picked up his first win of the season for the Cardinal (12-6, 2-1). He pitched six innings and allowed only one run on three hits and seven strikeouts. Cardinal Alez Pracher picked up his third save, pitching three innings of scoreless relief. Walsh finished the day 3-4 with one run scored and two RBI.

Sophomore pitcher Andrew Triggs (1-3) took the loss for USC (12-12, 1-2), giving up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Sophomore Chad Smith pitched  one and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief for the Trojans to end the game. The Trojans compiled only five hits in the game, two of them coming off the bat of sophomore outfielder fielder Matt Foat.

Both teams jumped on the board early in the contest. In the top of the first inning, USC sophomore first baseman Ricky Oropesa hit a solo home run off Mooneyham, but the Trojans left the bases loaded when junior third baseman Matt Hart grounded into a double play to end the frame.

The Cardinal responded quickly with a run of their own. In the bottom of the first, Walsh led off the inning with a base hit to centerfield and scored later on freshman Stephen Piscotty’s sacrifice fly to right field.

Both teams were held scoreless after the first until Walsh broke through with the game-winning single for Stanford in the seventh.

USC dropped the second game of the series Saturday when Stanford infielder Zach Jones singled to right with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Cardinal a 5-4 walk-off victory against the Trojans and even the Pac-10 series.

Sophomore Brian Busick (2-0) earned the win for Stanford after pitching two innings of no-hit relief. For the Trojans, sophomore reliever Brandon Garcia (1-2) was charged with the loss after giving up one run in one and two-thirds innings. Sophomore Ben Mount started the game for USC and gave up four runs in seven innings.

Although the Trojans lost the final two games of the series, they opened up Pac-10 play on a positive note Friday, defeating Stanford 13-8. Sophomore infielder Taylor Wrenn scored four times and drove in the go-ahead runs for the Trojans in the sixth inning. Wrenn and Oropesa tallied three hits each on the game, and sophomore Alex Sherrod added a three-run homer.

Shuhei Fujiya (3-1) earned the series-opening win for the Trojans, allowing only one run on four hits in three innings, while Garcia and junior reliever Chris Mezger combined to throw two shutout innings.

USC now travels to Loyola Marymount Tuesday to take on the Lions at 3 p.m. before continuing conference play in a weekend series against Oregon State at Dedeaux Field.