Huskies Drop First Game Of Series, 4-3, At USC

Friday, May 6

Los Angeles, CA

6:00 PM

University of Washington

25-16, 0

USC

21-22, 0

Washington

USC

Photo by: Washington Athletics

May 07, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Washington Athletics

LOS ANGELES – USC hit a pair of home runs in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead and held on despite a ninth inning rally by visiting Washington to win the first game of a three-games series, 4-3, on Friday night at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles

The loss dropped the Huskies (25-16, 11-8 Pac-12) a half-game below first-place and idle Utah in the conference standings.

Pinch-hitter Willie MacIver doubled with two outs and the Huskies trailing, 4-2, to start a last-ditch ninth inning rally effort. Pinch-runner Rex Stephan scored on a ground ball hit by KJ Brady that the third baseman Adalberto Carrillo booted into left field for an error, but reliever Marc Huberman struck out Jack Meggs to end the game and pick up his second save of the season.

Washington came into the series winners of six-straight against USC at Dedeaux Field and the Huskies jumped ahead in the third inning scoring a two-out run to grab the 1-0 lead. AJ Graffanino reached on a one-out single and was sacrificed to second by Brady. Meggs delivered a clutch two-out hit, singling the opposite way into the hole between shortstop and third, allowing Graffanino to score from second.

The Huskies' lead was short-lived, though, as the Trojans (21-22, 10-9) responded with three runs on a pair of home runs in the bottom of the third. UW starter Noah Bremer came into the game having allowed just one home run in 70 innings of work, but Frankie Rios tagged him for a solo shot to left-center and David Oppenheimer blasted a go-ahead two-run shot over the right-field wall – part of a 3 for 4 night for the Trojans' designated hitter -- that quickly turned a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit for the Huskies.

Washington took advantage of a pair of USC errors in the fifth to cut the Trojans' lead to 3-2, but USC scored in the bottom half of the inning to go back up by two runs. Brady reached on a two-out double in the top of the inning and scored after back-to-back errors by the USC's middle of the infield. Meggs reached first and Brady moved to third on an error by shortstop Brandon Perez and Chris Baker followed with a sharp hit to second base that Rios couldn't handle and allowed Brady to score.

But USC got the run back, scoring on a 6-4-3 double-play grounder in the bottom half of the inning. Bremer allowed a hit and walked two to load the bases with nobody out before getting AJ Ramirez to hit into the double play that scored Oppenheim from third and increase USC's lead to 4-2.

Bremer (4-4) would leave trailing 4-2 after six innings of work. He allowed eight hits and four earned runs – the second most the sophomore has allowed this season.

Four Husky relievers combined to pitch two scoreless innings to keep Washington in the game, including Alex Nesbitt who struck out all four batters he faced in 1 1/3 innings.

The Huskies had opportunities to get back into the game in the eighth and ninth innings but ultimately only scored the one run in the ninth.

The Huskies chased USC starter Joe Navilhon (4-3) from the game after a career-high 7 1/3 innings. He left with a pair of Huskies on the base paths, but Huberman struck out Duncan Hendrickson and MJ Hubbs to end the threat.

The Huskies and Trojans resume the series Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. start.

USC 4 (21-22, 10-9), Washington 3 (25-16, 11-8)

UW 001 010 001 –- 3 8 1
USC 003 010 00x –- 4 9 3

LOB: UW 7, USC 7. Noah Bremer, Will Ballowe (7), Alex Nesbitt (7), Greg Minier (8), Lance Berringer (8) and Joey Morgan; Joe Navilion, Marc Huberman (8) and Jeremy Martinez. W – Navilhon (4-3). L – Bremer (4-4). SV – Huberman (2). HR – USC, Frankie Rios (2), David Oppenheim (3). 3B – USC, Adalberto Carrillo. 2B – UW, MJ Hubbs, KJ Brady, Willie MacIver. Time – 2:46. Attendance – 426.