LOS ANGELES — When USC needed a big start Sunday afternoon from freshman Stephen Tarpley, he supplied it.
Tarpley improved to 5-1 on the season, pitching 7 1/3 innings and allowing only two runs on six hits and a walk to help the Trojans (22-17, 7-10) to a 6-2 victory and a series win over visiting Oregon State (28-14, 8-10).
Tarpley struggled in the first inning, allowing back-to-back doubles to open the game, but found his groove shortly after.
After the game, I talked about the impact of the series win with Tarpley and USC head coach Frank Cruz.
Tarpley talked about recovering from his shaky first-inning start to pitch into the eighth inning. He had a funny reaction when I asked him about the relief he felt once the offense gave him the lead with four runs in the second inning:
Cruz was happy that his Trojans were able to grab the series win against Oregon State, saying that the team knew it was on “lifeline.” Listen to Cruz discuss the pitching performances of Tarpley as well as Andrew Triggs and Martin Viramontes, who helped USC to the win Saturday:
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