Terrific Trojans
USC's 12th CWS title a blast from the past for coach
Posted: Thursday September 03, 1998 10:42 PM
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Wait 'til this year: USC celebrates its first national championship in 20 years Vincent Laforet/Allsport |
OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN/SI) -- When Jason Lane hit a ninth-inning grand
slam to cap Southern California's 21-14 victory over Arizona State on
Saturday, it was a pleasant flashback for Mike Gillespie. In 1961,
Gillespie crossed the plate with the winning run when USC won the College
World Series. Thirty-seven years later, he was the coach who linked the
Trojans to their historic past. Keyed by Wes Rachels' 5-for-7,
seven-RBI performance (a championship game record), USC (49-17) claimed its
NCAA-best 12th baseball title by holding off the Sun Devils (41-23) in a
39-hit shootout. The victory brought back happy memories for
Gillespie, who scored the eighth-inning run when the Trojans edged Oklahoma
State 1-0 in 1961. "Our success as a member on the 1961 team was a
fabulous achievement," he said. "It was a great, great feeling. ... As for
what we did today, I was humbled and thrilled by what our team did. It's
hard to separate the two." It was the first championship in 20
years for a USC program that has won more than twice as many as any other
school. Arizona State is No. 2 on the list with five.
"I'm tremendously proud that we're going to be able to put another one of
those trophies up there with the other 11," said Gillespie. Rod
Dedeaux, the man who built Southern Cal's dynasty, sat behind the Trojans'
dugout Saturday, offering tips to hitters in the on-deck circle. "I
was giving them a little encouragement, telling them it belonged to them,"
said Dedeaux, who coached the Trojans to College World Series titles in
1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970-74 and 1978. It paid off for
players like Lane, who entered the World Series hitting .305, but hit .517
with a CWS-record 15 hits and four home runs. A reliever, Lane (9-2) also
got a save and the title-game victory.
Doing it all: Lane got the win in the title game, in addition to hitting .517 with a CWS record 15 hits and four home runs Vincent Laforet/Allsport | |
"I'm just glad I finally got
it going and stayed hot through the series," said Lane, who overshadowed
other CWS players like Miami's Pat Burrell, the No. 1 overall pick in last
week's amateur draft. Burrell could focus on his prospects with the
Philadelphia
Phillies after the Hurricanes were eliminated early. Miami came to
Omaha with a consensus No. 1 national ranking but scored only eight runs in
three games.
The third-seeded Hurricanes were the third team sent home from the
eight-team, double-elimination tournament. Second-seeded Florida State and
top-seeded Florida had lost earlier.
Southern Cal beat Florida 12-10 in 11 innings -- the first of five
straight victories for the Trojans, who became the first team since Arizona
in 1980 to win the series after losing an opener.
LSU seemed on track for its fifth championship of the 1990s after
setting a World Series record with eight home runs in a 12-10 opening-round
victory over USC. The Tigers pounded USC starter Seth Etherton, the No. 18
pick in the draft by the Anaheim Angels.
The long-ball performance seemed to support a joking reference to LSU's
"gorillas" by Miami coach Jim Morris at the introductory news conference.
Along with a survey of whether the eight coaches allow their players to
use the muscle-building dietary supplement creatine -- each answered yes --
the phrase "gorilla-ball" was coined to describe a World Series that
witnessed a record 62 home runs -- 17 each by LSU and Southern Cal.
When USC beat LSU 7-3 on Friday to eliminate the two-time defending
champs, Lane homered twice, then took the mound in the eighth to stop a
two-out rally. The victory put the Trojans in the title game. On
Saturday, he replaced starter Rik Currier in the second and pitched 2 1-3
innings while going 3-for-6 with a single and double. When his
grand slam cleared the fence in right-center, Lane pumped his fists as he
circled the bases. In a game of offensive surges on both sides, he had
finally put USC over the top.
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Mass production: Wes Rachels went 5-for-7 and set a championship game record with seven RBIs Vincent Laforet/Allsport |
"I had a pretty good idea that it
might get it done," Lane said. "We've played each other a few times and we
knew what we needed to get offensively." There were 35 World Series
records set and another 17 tied in a game that epitomized college baseball:
Hits flying off aluminum bats and no lead ever big enough. "It's
definitely a sign of the times," Arizona State coach Pat Murphy said.
"You're at a point of the season where everybody is swinging it so good.
You hit a routine fly ball and it goes out of the ballpark." An
early 8-0 lead didn't stand up for USC. The Sun Devils rallied behind a
second-inning grand slam by Michael Collins, and pulled to 9-8 on a two-run
homer by Jeff Phelps in the fourth. "An eight-run lead wasn't
enough," said Rachels, selected the most outstanding player of the CWS. "A
six-run lead wasn't enough. A three-run lead wasn't enough. Emotions were
high all day long." Southern California got a momentum boost in the
seventh when Morgan Ensberg stole home with the bases loaded and two outs.
He faked the steal on three pitches. Gillespie said the play was planned.
"We've actually done it before," Gillespie said. "Despite the fact
that it obviously makes no sense, it's been remarkably successful for us."
That made it 12-8, and Rachels followed with a single to left
field, driving in two more runs. The Trojans came to bat in the top
of the ninth leading 16-14. Robb Gorr, who had homered twice, reached on a
fielder's choice and took second on a single by Eric Munson. Ensberg
doubled, driving in Gorr to extend the lead. Brad Ticehurst walked
and Lane followed with the grand slam. Trojans reliever Jack Krawcyzk got
the final five outs, setting NCAA records with his 23rd save of the season
and 49th of his career. USC, which lost 12-10 to LSU in the series opener,
became the first school since Arizona in 1980 to lose its first game but
come back to win the tournament.
Gorr started the Trojans with a
three-run homer in the first off Ryan Mills (8-4), the ace of the Arizona
State staff and the sixth overall pick in last week's amateur draft by the
Minnesota Twins.
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