June 14, 2000

Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. - Mike Futrell singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as Florida State staved off elimination again with a 3-2 victory over Southern California on Wednesday night.

Futrell, 0-for-3 with two strikeouts as he stepped to the plate, lifted Ronald Flores' 1-2 pitch into right field to score Ryan Barthelemy from third.

Flores (6-2) gave up three hits in 1 1-3 innings.

Jon McDonald (12-5) pitched a four-hitter for Florida State. He struck out seven, walked four and hit three batters. The only two runs he allowed were unearned.

Until the ninth, Florida State (53-18) had just four hits and the Seminoles' entire offense came from Marshall McDougall.

McDougall hit two solo home runs, his 14th and 15th of the season. His second was his fifth at Rosenblatt Stadium, tying him with Barthelemy and former Seminoles star J.D. Drew for the most in CWS history.

The Seminoles need to beat LSU twice to advance to the championship game. Florida State and the Tigers play Thursday night.

Southern California (44-20), meanwhile, exits the tournament having stranded 29 runners on base, 17 in scoring position, in three games.

The loss spoiled a solid outing from freshman Anthony Reyes. He gave up three hits and two runs in 7 1-3 innings. He struck out a career-high 10.

The Trojans scored an unearned run in the fourth when Justin Gemoll reached on Pichi Balet's throwing error and came home on Beau Craig's single up the middle.

McDougall tied it at 1 in the fourth with a two-out solo home run to left field. He tied it again in the seventh with his second of the game.

Southern Cal took a 2-1 lead in the sixth with the help of more sloppy play by the Seminoles.

McDonald hit Craig with a pitch. Craig moved to second with a stolen base, but he should have been out. Blair McCaleb's throw had him beaten by so much that Craig stopped in the basepath. But neither Brett Groves nor McDougall could come up with the ball.

Craig moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Balet's second throwing error of the game.

The Trojans had plenty of opportunities to extend their early lead. They left seven runners on base, including six in scoring position, through six innings.