The Notre Dame baseball team edged USC 2-1 Saturday afternoon at Dedeaux Field in Los Angles. The victory snaps a two-game skid for the Irish.
The Fighting Irish (9-3) took the lead over the Trojans (7-7) when Trey Mancini plated designated hitter Ryan Bull with a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning. Bull had walked and advanced to third one batter earlier on a single by Eric Jagielo, who hit his fourth home run of the season in the sixth inning.
Irish starting pitcher Adam Norton (4-0) allowed just a run on five hits in 7.0 innings of work to earn his fourth consecutive victory to start the season. Norton struckout three and walked one in the first meeting between the Irish and Trojans since 2005 in South Bend. Notre Dame's last visit to Dedeaux Field came at the start of the 2004 season.
Notre Dame closer Dan Slania worked the final 2.0 innings to earn his third save of 2013. Slania gave up a pair of ninth inning singles before a crazy play ended the game. With the tying run at third base, Trojan designated hitter Jake Hernandez popped up a suicide squeeze bunt attempt to Slania, who then threw the ball to third to end the contest.
Notre Dame opened its spring break trip with a 2-1 loss to UCLA on Friday. The Irish close the weekend when they face Oklahoma at Dodger Stadium at 1 p.m. ET. They take Monday off before facing UC Santa Barbara on Monday and then close the trip with a three-game series at Cal Poly Thursday-Saturday.
