USC 9 UCLA 0

Kennedy Dominates In USC's 9-0 Shut Out Against UCLA

Sophomore right-hander throws first career complete game and strikes out career-high 15 batters.

April 9, 2005

Box Score

LOS ANGELES - Sophomore right-hander Ian Kennedy (Huntington Beach/La Quinta HS) threw his first complete game Saturday and struck out a career-high 15 batters as the USC Trojans shut out the UCLA Bruins, 9-0, at Dedeaux Field. The win secures a Pac-10 Conference series victory for the Trojans, along with winning five points in the Lexus Gauntlet standings.

Kennedy (5-1) struck out the side twice, opening the game with four consecutive strikeouts. He proved to have enough in the tank as he struck out five of the last six batters he faced, including striking out the side in the eighth.

In his last two games, Kennedy has allowed just one run in 15 2/3 innings, scattering nine hits and allowing just four walks against 28 strikeouts.

USC (20-9, 5-3) received its offense from the bottom of the batting order as Hector Estrella, Darin Vieira and Roberto Lopez combined for a 6-for-11 day with eight of the team's nine RBI. Estrella went 3-for-4 with four RBI.

Third baseman Billy Hart had a perfect day with a 4-for-4 game (all singles) and reaching base in all five of his plate appearances.

Kennedy and UCLA's Hector Ambriz (2-3) started the game with a pitchers' duel in a televised contest as both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the fourth. Estrella hit an infield single with the bases loaded to score Hart, followed by a two-run single from Vieira up the middle.

USC, which scored all nine runs with two outs, broke the game open with six runs in the fifth. The big hits came when Estrella hit a three-run triple to right and Lopez hit a two-run double down the left field line.

Ambriz took the loss for UCLA (7-20, 0-5), allowing eight runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.

The series concludes tomorrow with a 1 p.m. start. The game will be broadcast live, along with Gametracker live stats, on usctrojans.com.

UCLA 000-000-000---0-3-0
USC 000-360-00x---9-12-0
WP-Kennedy (5-1)   LP-Ambriz (2-3)
T: 2:43  ATT: 1,005
Records: USC (20-9, 5-3), UCLA (7-20, 0-5)
Ambriz, Simon (5) and Sharp.
Kennedy and Clement. 

Always a great Day to beat UCLA!