Feb. 15, 2002

Box Score

WACO, Texas - What was billed as a pitching duel turned into a four-hour-plus slugfest, but in the end, it was the 25th-ranked Bears who came away with an 18-9 win Friday night over sixth-ranked Southern California at Dodger Stadium.

Six Bears finished the night with two hits or more. Catcher Paul Richmond was the Baylor offensive star, going 2-for-6 with a run scored and five RBI, including a key home run in the fifth inning.

Hot-hitting Tim Hartshorn got things started for Baylor (2-3), leading off the game with a home run into the USC bullpen down the left field line. Sophomore Trey Webb, batting second, struck out but reached base on a wild pitch. Chris Durbin followed with a single, and four batters later, Paul Richmond drove the first pitch he saw into left-center for a two-RBI double that put the Bears up 3-0.

USC (2-3) answered with a single run in the bottom of the first on two walks, a hit batter and an infield hit. In the third, Alberto Concepcion's homer to left cut the lead to 3-2, and Bill Peavey homered to right in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3.

Baylor regained the lead in the fifth, thanks to a two-out fielding error by the Trojan third baseman that allowed Mike Huggins to score from second, but back-to-back doubles in the USC fifth tied the game and a wild pitch two batters later scored Brian Barre with the go-ahead run, making the score 5-4 USC.

Yet again, the Bears responded. In the sixth, Paul Witt reached leading off the inning on USC third baseman Nick Mosich's second error of the game. Hartshorn followed with a single to right and Trey Webb beat out a bunt single to load the bases. Trojan pitcher Jon Williams walked Durbin to walk in the tying run before being replaced on the mound by Cory Campos. Josh Ford then singled off Campos to drive in two runs, and with two outs Paul Richmond slammed his first home run of the season into the Baylor bullpen in right to give Baylor a 10-5 lead.

USC got back a run in the sixth (on a triple and subsequent Baylor error that allowed left-fielder Kris Cox to round the bases., but the Bears got that and more back in the seventh. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch by the Trojans' Clayton Wentworth bounded away from the catcher and allowed two runs to score. Mike Huggins followed with an infield hit that drove in the Bears' 13th run.

In the seventh, Southern California made it a game again, scoring three unearned runs off Paul Thorp to cut the Baylor lead to 13-9, but the Bears answered -- once more -- with three runs of their own in the eighth. A two-run homer by Webb (his first collegiate shot) upped the score to 18-9 in the ninth.

Steven White (1-0) got his first win of the season despite allowing five runs in his five innings. White gave up seven hits and walked four batters on the night.

Jon Williams (0-1) took the loss for USC in relief, allowing four runs (two earned) in just one-third of an inning.

The Bears and Trojans continue the weekend series Saturday at 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT).