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Baylor Completes Doubleheader Sweep With 9-8 Victory
Feb. 22, 2003 WACO, Tex. - Josh Ford's grand slam in the bottom of the sixth proved to be the difference Saturday as the No. 9 Baylor Bears completed the doubleheader sweep against the No. 8 USC Trojans with a 9-8 win in the nightcap. Baylor defeated USC, 2-1, in 12 innings in the first game of the doubleheader. Ford's second homer of the season capped a wild fifth and sixth innings for both teams. Down 2-1, USC scored three runs in the fifth. After a walk to Anthony Lunetta and David Gordon, Trojan center fielder Travis McAndrews hit an RBI double to right to score Lunetta. Gordon scored on a wild pitch by Baylor starter Sean Walker, advancing McAndrews to third. Matt Bonovich pushed a safety squeeze to first, plating McAndrews. Baylor had its own rally when the Bears led off the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff single by Chris Durbin and back-to-back walks to David Murphy and Ford. Freshman Michael Cooper relieved starter Fraser Dizard and walked pinch-hitter Ross Bennett with the bases loaded to score the first run. Third baseman Michael Griffin delivered a two-run double to left before Cooper retired the next three batters.
USC second baseman Jon Brewster led off the sixth with a single to left before Ryan LaMotta relieved Woody for the Bears. Designated hitter Jeff Clement was hit by a pitch, advancing Brewster to second. With two outs and a 3-0 count, David Gordon was intentionally walked to load the bases for left fielder Spencer Gordon. Gordon faced a 1-2 count against LaMotta and fouled off four straight pitches. After Gordon pushed it to a full count, he fouled off a pitch into catcher Zach Dillon's glove, but it rolled out and allowed one more chance for Gordon. He then hit a two-run single to center, giving the Trojans a 6-5 lead.
On the next play, USC head coach Mike Gillespie called for a double steal and David Gordon was able to beat the throw at home from Bennett for a 7-5 advantage. Cooper walked Witt to open the Baylor sixth. James Luna (0-1) came in for the Trojans and promptly allowed a single to Durbin, who went 4-for-5 in the second game, and walked Murphy to load the bases before Ford's grand slam. Lunetta cut the lead with a solo home run to left in the eighth. In the top of the ninth against reliever Zane Carlson, Brewster hit a two-out single off the glove of Baylor shortstop Trey Webb. Carlson got Clement to ground out to Webb to end the game. Clement hit his fifth home run in his last six games with a solo shot to right center in the first. USC has been swept in the last three doubleheaders it has played. The Trojans lost a doubleheader at home last year against Stanford and dropped a double dip during the 2001 season at Washington. Baylor has now won five straight against USC, including last year's three-game series sweep at Dodger Stadium. The series finale will be tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. Central. The game will be broadcast live, along with Gametracker play-by-play, on usctrojans.com. Game 2 USC 100-033-010 --- 8-7-0 Baylor 002-034-00x --- 9-10-0 |
