USC baseball bows to No. 7 Cal State Fullerton

Published Mar. 5, 2011 8:33 p.m. ET

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FULLERTON, Calif. - Tyler Pill threw seven innings and struck out seven while allowing three hits Saturday as the No. 7 Cal State Fullerton Titans beat the USC Trojans, 7-3, to earn the series win at Goodwin Field. Pill gave up three runs, but only one was earned. Anthony Trajano and Nick Ramirez had two RBI each for the Titans (7-3).

Matt Foat had two RBI for the Trojans (3-7) while Kevin Roundtree had two hits. USC starter Austin Wood gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits in four innings of work, walking three and striking out three.

Richy Pedroza led off the bottom half of the first with a single up the middle, advancing to second on a sacrifice by second baseman Anthony Trajano. Ramirez then laced an RBI double to right field for the first run of the game. The Trojans got the run back in the second when catcher Kevin Roundtree doubled down the first base line. After a passed ball charged to Titan catcher Zach Tanida moved to third, designated hitter Matt Foat knocked an RBI groundout to second to plate Roundtree.

Trajano was hit by a Wood pitch in the third and Ramirez delivered again with the triple down the first base line for a 2-1 lead. With runners at the corners and one out, the Titans attempted a suicide squeeze, but Walker Moore missed the pitch. Ramirez was tagged on the rundown and as Carlos Lopez tried to take third, Roundtree made a heads-up throw to Roberts at the bag for the unique double play to end the inning.

USC took the 3-2 lead with two runs in the fourth. Ricky Oropesa flared a double to left field, followed by Joe De Pinto's single. Another Tanida passed ball moved De Pinto to second and a Pill wild pitch scored Oropesa for the tying run. Foat recorded another RBI groundout as De Pinto scored the go-ahead run.

In the bottom of the Fullerton fifth, Pedroza led off the inning again with a single. A balk called against Wood moved Pedroza to second, scoring on Trajano's double to right to tie it. Ramirez hit a hard ground ball that ate up Oropesa at first for runners at first and third with no outs. Ben Mount relieved Wood and loaded the bases on a walk to Lopez before Moore hit a two-run single down the third base line. Lopez later scored on a wild pitch by Mount as CSF led, 6-3.

The Trojans put runners at first and second with one out in the sixth, but the Titans were able to turn a 3-6-1 double play to end the threat. Trajano completed the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth.

The series concludes tomorrow at Dedeaux Field with a 1 p.m. start. The game will be broadcast through a live video webcast, along with Gametracker live stats, on usctrojans.com.

Notes: Kevin Roundtree leads the Trojans with a .478 batting average.