Baseball
    Baseball Shuts Out Oregon State
    Etherton is dominant again.

    March 6, 1998

    LOS ANGELES - Senior RHP Seth Etherton turned in yet another dominant performance, throwing a two-hit shutout and striking out 13 to lead the No. 2 USC baseball team to a 9-0 victory over Oregon State in a nonconference game on Friday night at Dedeaux Field. The Trojans improved to 15-4 overall, while the Beavers fell to 6-4-1.

    Etherton ran his record to 6-0 in six starts on the season and lowered his ERA to 0.94. His 13 strikeouts tied a career high. He also walked two batters, but only once did a runner reach second base. Of his 107 pitches, 75 were strikes. Etherton struck out five of the first six and retired the first 13 batters.

    "Etherton was Etherton. It's just unbelievable," USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. "We've come to expect what he does and we've gotten spoiled. We have to realize how special he is and has been."

    Said Etherton: "There was no way I wasn't going to get this one. I talked to (pitching coach John Savage) and he gave me the green light to go. I felt good and loose. It was tough breaking a sweat (because of the cold). I was lucky to get ahead of every batter."

    The Trojan bats were quiet until the bottom of the sixth inning, when they scored three runs to snap a scoreless tie off of Beaver junior RHP Chris Pine (1-1). Junior 1B Robb Gorr sliced a triple down the right-field line, and sophomore C Eric Munson followed with his seventh home run of the year, a blast to dead center into a strong wind. Senior LF Jeremy Freitas walked and ended up scoring on a wild pitch.

    The Trojans scored six more times in the bottom of the eighth, as Munson had an RBI single, senior 3B Morgan Ensberg hit a two-run home run, freshman SS Seth Davidson had an RBI double and junior CF Greg Hanoian knocked a two-run double.

    Munson was 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead the Trojans. Senior 1B Matt Bailie had both of the Beavers' hits, singles in the fifth and eighth innings.

    USC meets Oregon State again on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon. 

    
OSU 000-000-000 - 0-2-2
USC 000-030-06x - 9-12-0

Pine, Cook (8) and Bertrand.
Etherton and Munson.

WP -- Etherton (6-0)    
LP -- Pine (1-1)

HR: USC -- Munson (7), Ensberg (5)