SALT LAKE CITY -- Senior Biss Larsen hit a walk-off three-run home run in the 10th inning as Utah beat 12th-ranked Southern California 8-5 on Sunday.
Down 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, Kody Davis walked with one out and Cody Scaggari singled to put two on for Dallas Carroll, who singled up the middle to tie the game at 5-5. USC got a double play to end the inning and send it to extras.
Utah reliever Brock Duke got three quick outs, including two strikeouts, in the top of the 10th to keep the Trojans at bay. In the bottom of the inning, Max Schuman led off with a single and after a sacrifice bunt, Wade Gulden was intentionally walked before Larsen hit his first career home run over the left field fence to give Utah the win.
Duke and Bret Helton were stellar in relief on the mound. Duke threw the final two innings, striking out two and allowing no hits. He raises his record to 2-4 with the win. Helton pitched four scoreless innings in relief without allowing a hit, striking out two and walking two. Starter Jayson Rose pitched four innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits with three walks and a strikeout.
Schuman went 3-for-4 with two RBIs at the plate while Scaggari was 3-for-5. Carroll drove in two runs for the Utes.
“The whole team did a great job staying with it,” Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said. “We got great pitching from Bret and Brock to keep them at five, and we kept chipping back. We had a lot of opportunities all the way through the game, but we finally got it done with Biss’ home run. That was a great swing from him. The guys that set that up also deserve the credit -- Schuman’s base hit, Wyler’s sacrifice.”
Southern Cal took a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, scoring two runs on three hits. Utah cut the lead to 2-1 in the second inning after AJ Young doubled to lead off the inning and Schuman walked before both runners moved over on a ground out and Young scored on a ground out.
The Trojans increased their lead to 4-1 in the third after a two-RBI triple following a single and a walk. In the bottom of the third, Utah came back to score two runs. Utah loaded the bases with no outs when Josh Rose singled, Davis was hit by a pitch and Scaggari beat out a bunt single. Carroll grounded out to send in a run and Schuman added an RBI single before Southern Cal got out of the inning with a fly out.
Each team left two runners on in the fourth, which featured a 30 minute lightning delay. The Trojans increased their lead to 5-3 in the fifth after the first three batters reached base with two singles and a walk before Helton came in and got three outs to end the inning. The Utes continued to attempt to cut into the lead as Wyler Smith and Gulden both reached base to lead off the sixth. After a Southern Cal pitching change, a strikeout, unsuccessful squeeze play and pop up ended the Utah threat.
The Utes cut the Trojans’ lead to a run with a score in the bottom of the seventh, as Schuman hit a two-out RBI single to put the score at 5-4.
