Mar. 18, 1997

USC Defeats CS Fullerton, 2-0

LOS ANGELES -- A quartet of Trojan right-handed pitchers held Cal State Fullerton to just three hits as the No. 7 Trojans shut out Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, Tuesday night at Dedeaux Field. USC is now 23-8 overall with the Titans drop to 16-12.

USC's last shutout was May 18, 1996: a 5-0 victory over Washington in the Pacific-10 Playoffs.

Sophomore Mike Penney started for the Trojans and went five innings. Sophomore Steve Immel pitched the next two innings, allowing only one hit, to pick up the win (4-2). Junior Mike Weibling pitched a perfect eighth inning and junior Jack Krawczyk did the same in the ninth to record his Pac-10 leading seventh save of the season (and No. 22 of his career to rank No. 2 on the Trojan career list, tied with Dan Hubbs).

Junior John Alkire started for Cal State Fullerton and took the loss (0-2) despite shutting out the Trojans for six innings.

Taking a scoreless tie into the seventh, USC got on the scoreboard when Robb Gorr led off with a single to right field and stole second base, After Morgan Ensberg walked, Brian Ponchak slashed a single to centerfield to give USC a 1-0 lead.

The Trojans got their second run in the eighth when Greg Hanoian walked, Jason Brown singled him to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Eric Munson.

USC 2, CS Fullerton 0
CS Fullerton   000 000 000  -  0 3 0
USC            000 000 11x  -  2 8 1
CSF: Alkire, Greenlee (7), Garner (8), Baron (8) and Lamb.
USC: Penney, Immel (6), Weibling (8), Krawczyk (9) and Munson.
WP: Immel (4-2). LP: Alkire (0-2). Save: Krawczyk (7).
Attend: 598