University of Washington
USC
UW Falls In Extra-Innings For Second Consecutive Day, 4-3
March 30, 2015 | Baseball
SEATTLE – Bobby Stahel hit a home run in the 10th inning to lift No. 8 USC to a second-straight extra-innings win over Washington Sunday at Husky Ballpark.
Stahel took a 0-1 pitch from Spencer Jones over the left-field fence to lead off the 10th and ultimately send USC (22-6, 4-2 Pac-12) to a 4-3 victory. The home run was the lead-off hitter Stahel's first of the season and was his eighth hit in 16 at-bats in the series.
Reliever Alex Chavarria came into the game in the 10th and gave up a hit, but ultimately retired the Huskies (15-12, 2-7) to earn his second save in two days.
Washington outhit USC 11-9 on the day – and in fact, outhit the Trojans (30-25), outscored them (10-8) and had a lower ERA (2.06 to 2.38) during the series. But, it was the Trojans that escaped with the 2-1 series win as the Huskies had baserunners on in all but one inning and stranded 13 total runners Sunday.
The game was Washington's fifth one-run loss in nine Pac-12 contests.
A day after playing 16 innings and not scoring in the first 15 innings, Washington wasted little time getting on the board. Left fielder Kyle London led off the Husky half of the first with an infield single, and after right fielder Jack Meggs sacrificed him to second, No. 3 hitter Braden Bishop tripled the opposite way down the right-field line to score London and give the Huskies the early 1-0 advantage.
The Trojans were poised to tie the score in the top half of the second with a runner at third and less than two outs, but Bishop proved he could do more than hit by putting his arm on display in the field. Dante Flores tagged up at third base on a fly ball from Mercer Island native David Oppenheim, but Bishop gunned the ball home and catcher Joey Morgan applied the tag on Flores' back before he could cross home plate to preserve the UW's early lead.
USC finally got to UW starter Ryan Schmitten in the fourth to tie the score and took the lead in the fifth. Timmy Robinson tied the game with a RBI single and Oppenheim gave USC the 2-1 lead with a long home run to right field.
Washington evened the score at 2-2 in the bottom half of the fifth on a RBI double by Bishop. With two outs, Jack Meggs walked and Bishop followed with a hit into the left-field corner. Meggs wheeled all the way around from first without a play at the plate.
Bishop ended the day 2 for 4 with a triple, double and two runs batted in.
The run took Schmitten off the hook and allowed the junior to leave his first career start with a no decision. The Puyallup native gave up five hits in five innings of work, allowing two runs, walking one and striking out two.
The Huskies jumped ahead 3-2 in the sixth on a two-out single by Morgan. Chris Baker singled with one out and eventually advanced to third with two outs on a pair of wild pitches by USC starter Mitch Hart. After Levi Jordan walked, Morgan smacked the first pitch he saw from Hart into left field to pick up the go-ahead run.
USC got the equalizer back in the eighth on an infield single by Robinson. Garrett Stubbs doubled off Jones to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to third. Robinson followed by hitting a slow roller to third baseman Nyles Nygaard, who dropped the ball. It was ruled a hit and RBI, the second of the game for Robinson.
Jones (2-5) ended up taking the loss despite pitching tough over five innings. He gave up two runs on four hits, walked two and struck out two.
Brooks Kriske pitched 2 2/3 innings to pick up the win for USC.
Morgan, Bishop and Branden Berry had two hits apiece to lead the UW offense. Berry ended up hitting .455 (5 for 11) in the series.
The Huskies return to action this weekend in Palo Alto, Calif. against Stanford. The Huskies and Cardinal play a three-game series starting Thursday and running through Saturday. All three games will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
#8 USC 4, Washington 3
USC 001 100 000 1 –- 4 9 0
WASH 100 000 000 0 –- 3 10 0
LOB: USC 6, UW 13. Mitch Hart, Mason Perryman (7), Brooks Kriske (7) and Garrett Stubbs; Ryan Schmitten, Spencer Jones (6) and Joey Morgan. W – Kriske (1-1). L – Jones (2-5). Sv – Chavarria (2). HR – USC, David Oppenheim (3), Bobby Stahel (1). 3B – UW, Braden Bishop. 2B – USC, Dante Flores, AJ Ramirez, Garrett Stubbs; UW, Bishop. Time – 3:05. Attendance – 737.
