Feb. 24, 2013

Final Stats

LOS ANGELES - After a pair of extra-inning games had taxed the bullpen, the USC baseball team received a much-needed strong start from freshman lefty Kyle Twomey, who went the distance in his first collegiate win, a 4-2 victory Sunday at Dedeaux Field that gave the Trojans the series against the Cal State Northridge Matadors.

Twomey (Placentia, Calif./El Dorado HS) sailed through the first five, allowing only a single hit and racking up four strikeouts. The Matadors (4-3) manufactured a pair of runs on three singles in the sixth but would get no more. Twomey finished the day surrendering only the two runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out five.

Leading the charge offensively for the Trojans (4-3) were leadoff hitter and centerfielder Greg Zebrack (Northridge, Calif./UPenn) and designated hitter AJ Ramirez (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield Christian HS), both of whom finished with two hits. Zebrack hit a pair of doubles and scored twice, while Ramirez with a single and a double--both of which drove in runs.

The Trojans struck first in the second inning, when James Roberts (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) started a two-out rally with a single. Kevin Swick (La Canada, Calif./Loyola HS) was then hit by a pitch, and Ramirez drove Roberts in with a single. The team added another run in the third, when Zebrack led off with a double and came around to score on a single from Dante Flores (Norwalk, Calif./St. John Bosco HS), giving the Trojans a 2-0 lead.

After Northridge tied that game in the top half of the sixth, the Trojans had an immediate answer in the bottom half of the frame, as Swick and Ramirez hit back-to-back two-out doubles to put the score at 3-2. The Trojans capped the scoring in the seventh, as Zebrack led off the inning his second double of the day and came around to score on a groundout by Flores.