Cougars Long On Motivation Revenge-Minded WSU Visits Usc For Ncaa Regional Baseball Berth
Been there. Done that. Hated it.
That probably best sums up the collective mindset of Washington State’s playoffbound baseball team as it prepares for a return trip to Los Angeles to face Southern California in a best-of-three series that will determine the Pacific-10 Conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals.
It was back in early February when WSU opened its regular season by riding into L.A. and getting bushwacked by the Trojans, 8-0. It was the Cougars’ first game under coach Steve Farrington, and it showed.
WSU pitchers walked 11 batters and hit another.
“We were real inconsistent on the mound,” Farrington recalled. “USC likes to run, but then didn’t do much of it against us the first time because they didn’t need to.”
Despite that early season embarrassment at Dedeaux Field, the Cougars can’t wait to get back.
The Trojans, 39-18 and ranked seventh nationally after winning the Pac-10’s South Division, are heavily favored in the playoff series, which opens Thursday night at 7.
That’s fine with Farrington. But he warns against taking his Cougars too lightly.
“We know what we’re getting into,” Farrington admitted. “It’s going to be tough. If this was the first time we’ve done this, then there’s a chance the outcome might be like the first time.
“But this is our second time down there, and I don’t know about you, but I tend to live and learn a little bit. And so do my players.”
Ken Cameron, the Cougars’ leading hitter with a .384 average, sat out the seasonopener against USC because of “off-thefield problems.” He remembers the game, though, and says he doesn’t expect the same results.
“We came in with a new coach and it was our first game,” the junior rightfielder explained. “We were still trying to get things together and figure out what Coach Farrington expected from us and I think it took us a few games - or maybe even half the season - to do that.
“The loss could carry over in two ways. You could look at it and lose confidence, which I definitely don’t think is going to happen, or there’s the possibility that USC will say, ‘O.K., Washington State is coming down from the Northwest against and we beat them 8-0 last time so no problem.’
“If that’s the case, we’ll come at them with a whole new team and try to surprise them. I want to go down there and take the first two games and be done with it.”
That is not a likely scenario, considering the Trojans are hitting .309 and have six players in their starting lineup above .300.
Outfielder Geoff Jenkins is hitting .396 with 18 home runs and 55 runs batted in and outfielder Jacque Jones and shortstop Gave Alvarez are each batting .352.
USC has won 18 out of its last 21 games and is 34-9 against WSU, having beaten the Cougars the last 14 times.
Trojans coach Mike Gillespie also has a solid trio of starters pitchers in Randy Flores (10-3 with a 2.94 earned run average), Ben Tucker (5-2, 3.78) and Brian Cooper (5-2, 4.76), and a big-time closer in Jason Garner, who is 5-1 with 14 saves and a 2.18 ERA.
“In a three-game set, it might be the best pitching we’ve faced,” Farrington admitted. “But I think we’ve faced somebody very similar to their three starters at one time or another during the year.”
Flores, a left-handed breakingball pitcher, is expected to start Thursday’s opener for USC. Farrington said he will counter with Robert Ramsay, a 6-foot-4 junior lefty who had his best performance of the season in last Friday’s 3-1 win over Oregon State that helped the Cougars (28-28) clinch their first North Division title since 1991. He was named pitcher of the week for the effort.
Series notebook
There will be no television coverage of Thursday night’s game, but Prime Network will broadcast Friday’s second game, which also begins at 7, live on Prime Sports Northwest in the Spokane area. Saturday’s third game, if needed, will start at 1 p.m. and will also be televised live on PSN… . Cougar infielder Ron Naumu was named player of the week in the North Division after going 5 for 9, including key hits in two victories, with four runs scored, two RBIs and two home runs. … All of WSU’s playoff games will carried live on Pullman radio station KQQQ (1150 AM)… . WSU’s Mike Kinkade, who holds school records for runs scored (229), hits (301) and doubles (75), has 837 career at-bats and needs 11 to surpass Greg Hunter (848) as the Cougars’ all-time leader. .. The NCAA will announce the 48 teams selected for regional play in its postseason tournament May 22 on a special ESPN telecast that begins at noon PDT. … The Cougars’ fuboldKen Cameronfunorm, who his hitting .3842, trails Washington’s fuboldJon VanderGriendfunorm (.3854) in the North Division batting race and could win the title if he hits close to .400 against USC in the playoffs.
xxxx Cougars lineup
Pos. Player Yr. Stats SS Mike Wetmore So. (.244, 51 hits) CF Rob Ryan Jr. (.327, 73 hits) RF Ken Cameron Jr. (.384, 78 hits) C Mike Kinkade Sr. (.340, 71 hits) 2B Ron Naumu Sr. (.314, 59 hits) DH Jason Hairston Fr. (.205, 9 hits) 3B Randy Kaleikilo Jr. (.222, 32 hits) 1B Ty Solomon Jr. (.216, 25 hits) LF Jim Horner Jr. (.278, 32 hits) P Robert Ramsay Jr. (6-2, 60 Ks)