College Baseball : USC Comeback Victory Recalls the Miracle Against Minnesota in 1973

USC has staged many exciting comeback victories, particularly during the 1970s when the Trojans won 6 of their 11 national championships.

The most dramatic one, given the circumstances and the setting, occurred in the semifinals of the 1973 College World Series.

The Trojans went to bat in the bottom of ninth inning trailing Minnesota, 7-0. The Gophers’ pitcher, a hard-throwing right-hander named Dave Winfield, had allowed only an infield single in the sixth inning while striking out 15.

Needless to say, the situation looked hopeless. But the Trojans used eight singles, a passed ball, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base to score eight runs, the decisive one coming with two out.

Winfield, incidentally, didn’t get the loss. He was removed with one out after yielding four hits and the first three runs.

USC went on to defeat Arizona State, 4-3, to win the fourth of its five consecutive NCAA titles.

Those kinds of victories have been rare lately, but the Trojans evoked some memories Sunday at Dedeaux Field when they came from far behind to defeat California, 12-10, in the third game of their Pacific 10 Southern Division series.

Cal appeared headed for a sweep when it scored five runs in the third inning and four in the fourth. USC, meanwhile, had managed only a bunt single in its first three at-bats. But the Trojans used six hits and three walks to score nine times. Then they scored once in the fifth and twice in the seventh to seal the win.

Although this victory doesn’t match the one against Minnesota in 1973 for sheer drama, it was, according to USC Coach Rod Dedeaux, special nonetheless.

“Nothing compares with the College World Series,” he said in the jubilant Trojan clubhouse.” But it does rank up there with the great USC wins. It is one of the great comebacks in Trojan history.

“This was important because we had to have this win. If we had lost, we’d be 0-3 and in a big hole. After two tough losses (3-2 in 10 innings and 6-4), it would have been disastrous for this team to get beat big. It would be very hard to recover.”

So USC, which finished last in the six-team league in 1985 with a 5-25 record, 18 games behind champion Stanford, is one game behind Cal, Stanford and Arizona State at 1-2, instead of being three games behind Cal.

Perhaps the season’s biggest surprise is Pepperdine’s slow start. The Waves, expected to be one of the Southland’s strongest teams, were 3-6-2 after losing to Cal Poly Pomona, 8-5, last Wednesday.

But Pepperdine Coach Dave Gorrie is not surprised.

“This is a young team,” he said Saturday before the Waves’ rematch with Cal Poly Pomona at Malibu. You can’t expect this team to be as good as last year’s. You can’t replace 27 homers, 15 wins, a super shortstop.”

Gorrie was referring to center fielder Brad Bierley, who also drove in 75 runs, right-hander Scott Marrett, 15-0, 2.08 ERA, and Nezi Balelo, 40 RBIs and 24 steals, but whose true value was on defense. They and several other departed players helped the Waves win the West Coast Athletic Conference and go 52-15-1.

“The rain has been a hindrance. It prevented us from accomplishing what we want (teach Pepperdine’s system to the new players and work on proper execution). But I don’t want to use that as an excuse. All teams were hampered by rain,” he said.

One of the things that hampered the Waves was a lack of clutch hitting, which resulted in too many runners being left in scoring position. And the defense, long a Pepperdine strength, was shaky.

Pepperdine opened with an 8-4 victory over UCLA, then lost five straight, including four by one run. One of those was a 1-0 decision to Arizona at Tucson in which sophomore right-hander Pat Dubar allowed only one hit, a seventh-inning homer by Todd Trafton.

In order to improve the defense, Gorrie moved Paul Faries back to third base (he was playing second), and put sophomore Chris Sloniger at second. Sophomore Chris Costley, who had been at third, now alternates at first with freshman Scott Shockey. “These switches have helped us offensively and defensively,” Gorrie said.

Gorrie said the pitching staff, while not as deep as he’d prefer, has, for the most part, pitched well. “It’s been good enough to win.

“We’re building up. We’re making progress,” Gorrie said. “Things will get better.”

They already have. Pepperdine has won three three straight, raising its record to 6-6-2.

Last Friday junior right-hander Mike Fetters, the ace of the staff, beat Cal State Northridge, 1-0, allowing only six hits and striking out nine. On Saturday, Tony Lewis, also a junior right-hander, yielded just five hits while striking out seven as the Waves won, 10-0. On Sunday, Dubar beat Northridge, 1-0, in 10 innings, allowing only four hits and striking out 12.

Dubar’s shutout extended the Waves’ string of scoreless innings to 35. The staff hasn’t yielded a run since Cal Poly Pomona scored eight times in the first inning last Wednesday.

College Baseball Notes

Some of the Trojans who took part in the 1973 rally against Minnesota were future major leaguers Rich Dauer, Fred Lynn and Roy Smalley. And there was Marvin Cobb, who went on to play cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals. Creighton Tevlin never made it to the majors--he did play Triple-A ball--but his single to center scored Cobb to win the game. . . . Among those who contributed to Sunday’s comeback were Don Buford Jr., whose triple drove in the first three runs, Dan Henley, whose three-run homer made the score 9-8, and Kaha Wong, whose long homer to center tied the score. Buford also drove in what proved to be the winning run with a double in the seventh inning. . . . Buford, a transfer from Stanford, is the son of the former major league player and coach, who now is an assistant to Rod Dedeaux. . . . Also instrumental in the victory was relief pitcher Steve Bast. The junior left-hander entered the game in the fifth inning with one out and runners on first and second and retired the first 11 men he faced. He worked the final 4 innings, allowed two hits, a run and one walk while striking out five. Bast, who set a school record last season by losing 11 games, equalled his 1985 win total with his third victory. Dedeaux had hoped that Bast would become the stopper out of the bullpen, a role the coach thought Bast could handle because of his competitive nature. Bast, primarily a starter last season, said he’s adjusting to his new job. “I’ll do whatever it takes to win. I’m tired of all the losing,” he said. . . . Cal, a team that likes to run, was successful on 8 of 14 stolen base attempts in the USC series. The Bears have stolen 52 (in 73 attempts) in their first 17 games. Last season they led the Pac-10 with 197 steals in 66 games. . . . Pepperdine, which committed 14 errors in its first nine games, has made only three in its last five.