After he escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third inning Saturday, USC pitcher Grant Govel skipped back to the dugout in delight.
After he got out of a two-on, one-out mess in the fifth, Govel pumped his arm in elation.
After that … there was no more celebrating by Trojans pitchers.
A bullpen that had been a strength a day earlier wobbled against fifth-seeded North Carolina in Game 2 of an NCAA Tournament Super Regional, making a comeback even harder against a Tar Heel who was pitching the game of his life.
The USC relievers gave up three runs during their team’s 4-0 loss in Chapel Hill, N.C., forcing a deciding Game 3 on Sunday.
Govel (10-3) was charged with the loss even though he gave up only one run — on Colin Hynek’s home run — in five sharp innings.
USC coach Andy Stankiewicz praised Govel’s resolve in tough situations.
In the third inning, with the bases loaded and only one out, Govel induced a foul pop-up on a high pitch that would have been ball four. He then struck out Hynek to end the inning.
In the fifth, with runners on first and third with one out, he induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
“We did a really great job of minimizing what could have been some big innings,” Stankiewicz told reporters. “That is what we talk about a lot: The fact that they had some traffic, they made some big pitches. … It was big. We had a pop-up. So, yeah, I think we pitched well enough to keep ourselves close, give ourselves a shot.”
Things deteriorated quickly once USC reliever Sax Matson took the mound in the sixth.
North Carolina first baseman Erik Paulsen whacked Matson’s third pitch for a homer to left field, giving the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead.
Hynek followed with a single to right and took second when a Matson pitch smacked North Carolina’s Tyler Howe in the face, briefly dropping him to the dirt before he took first base. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly drove in another run to make it 3-0.
Matson was charged with a third run after issuing a leadoff walk in the seventh inning. Gavin Lauridsen replaced Matson and gave up a single that put runners on the corners with nobody out before a sacrifice fly increased the Tar Heels’ advantage to 4-0.
That was a much bigger cushion than North Carolina ace Jason DeCaro needed on a day that he pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing only five baserunners — including one that reached on an error. The Trojans never even put one runner into scoring position.
It could have been much worse for USC.
North Carolina stranded 13 baserunners and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
With Stankiewicz suggesting that his team would use a pitching-by-committee approach in the winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday, the Trojans bullpen will get another chance.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
