Feb. 1, 1998

USC Baseball Downs Long Beach State, 9-5

LOS ANGELES - Sophomore catcher Eric Munson's 2-run home run highlighted a 4-run third inning and helped lead No. 5-ranked USC to a 9-5 victory over No. 26 Long Beach State Sunday afternoon at Dedeaux Field. Trailing 2-0 in the third, the Trojans tied the game on a 2-run double with 2 outs by first baseman Robb Gorr, who scored on Munson's first home run of the year. Gorr was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI for the Trojans who got just 7 hits on the day.

Junior righthander Craig Jones, who pitched 2 innings in relief of starter Jason Saenz, picked up the win (1-0) while 49er starter Caleb Balbuena took the loss (0-1).

Trojan senior ace reliever Jack Krawczyk pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to record his first save of the year and 27th in his career, making him USC's all-time save leader.

First baseman Jason Yount was 4-for-4 with 2 doubles, a home run and 3 RBI for Long Beach State. Third baseman Morgan Ensberg, who is now hitting a blazing .571 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI in 2 games, homered for the Trojans. USC won 2 games in this series with Long Beach State and has a 6-1 lead in the fifth inning of Saturday's game which was postponed due to rain. The game will be completed on Tuesday (Feb. 10) at Blair Field at 3 p.m.

LBS 020-110-010 - 5-13-3
USC 004-200-12X - 9-7-1

Balbuena, Grant (6), Marr (7) and Hill, Kennedy (7) Saenz, Immel (4), Jones (6), Weibling (8), Krawczyk (8) and Munson

WP - Jones (1-0)
LP - Balbuena (0-1)
SAVE - Krawczyk (1)

HR - USC - Munson (1), Ensberg (2)
LB - Yount (1), Hall (1)

2B - Yount 2 (LB), Gorr (USC)