USCs bullpen cant hold it down during loss to North Carolina

After he escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third inning Saturday, USC pitcher Grant Govel skipped back to the dugout in delight.After he got out of a two-on, one-out mess in the fifth, Govel pumped his arm in elation.After that … there was no more celebrating by Trojans pitchers.A bullpen that had been a strength a day earlier wobbled against fifth-seeded North Carolina in Game 2 of an NCAA Tournament Super Regional, making a comeback even harder against a Tar Heel who was pitching the game of his life.The USC relievers gave up three runs during their team’s 4-0 loss in Chapel Hill, N.C., forcing a deciding Game 3 on Sunday.Govel (10-3) was charged with the loss even though he gave up only one run — on Colin Hynek’s home run — in five sharp innings.USC coach Andy Stankiewicz praised Govel’s resolve in tough situations.In the third inning, with the bases loaded and only one out, Govel induced a foul pop-up on a high pitch that would have been ball four.He then struck out Hynek to end the inning.In the fifth, with runners on first and third with one out, he induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.“We did a really great job of minimizing what could have been some big innings,” Stankiewicz told reporters.

“That is what we talk about a lot: The fact that they had some traffic, they made some big pitches.… It was big.

We had a pop-up.So, yeah, I think we pitched well enough to keep ourselves close, give ourselves a shot.”Things deteriorated quickly once USC reliever Sax Matson took the mound in the sixth.North Carolina first baseman Erik Paulsen whacked Matson’s third pitch for a homer to left field, giving the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead.Hynek followed with a single to right and took second when a Matson pitch smacked North Carolina’s Tyler Howe in the face, briefly dropping him to the dirt before he took first base.

After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly drove in another run to make it 3-0.Matson was charged...