Huskies Squeeze Out Miraculous Comeback, Beat USC 11-10

Thursday, May 25

Seattle, Wash.

6:00 PM

University of Washington

27-25, 0

USC

20-33, 0

USC

Washington

May 25, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score Box: UW 11, USC 10 Watch: Highlights Watch: Joey Morgan Postgame

By: Brian Tom

SEATTLE – It wasn't pretty, but the Huskies will take it.

AJ Graffanino laid down a well-placed suicide squeeze bunt in the eighth inning that scored KJ Brady and gave the Huskies an 11-10 lead, which they would hold onto, capping a wild comeback in which Washington (27-25, 13-15 Pac-12) rallied from an eight-run deficit.

With two runners in scoring position and one out, Graffanino fouled off several 3-2 pitches from USC's Brad Wegman (2-5) before laying down a bunt that popped into the air, but fell safely between Wegman and shortstop Frankie Rios. Brady, who was running on the pitch from third, halted momentarily halfway down the base paths, before turning the gas on and scoring.

USC (20-33, 7-21) had scored in the top of the eighth to tie the game back up at 10-10, which was a minor miracle in itself. The Trojans led 9-1 after their half of the second inning, but gave up nine unanswered runs to the Huskies.

"We got together after we fell behind and we said, 'Hey, let's try to win the final seven innings.'" Coach Lindsay Meggs said. "We kept swinging the bats and we know stranger things have happened."

On a night where the Huskies knew they needed to win to keep their post-season hopes alive, things got off to a rough start and snowballed after that. The Trojans sent 10 batters to the plate and spent the first 20 minutes of the game building a four-run lead in the first inning.

Lead-off hitter Lars Nootbaar greeted UW starter Chris Micheles rudely with a no-doubt, home run to center field on the second pitch of the game to make it 1-0. After a double and walk, Husky ace Noah Bremer was called in from the bullpen to try to limit the damage, but he didn't fare much better.

After a Rios single loaded the bases, Blake Sabol hit a sacrifice fly that made the score 2-0. Dillon Paulson singled home the third run and Matthew Acosta picked up the final RBI of the inning when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run that made the score 4-0.

Washington tried to chip away at USC's lead right away in the first inning as freshman starter Austin Manning struggled to find his command. He walked the first three Huskies of the game and unleashed two wild pitches – the second one allowing Jack Meggs to score – but he got back-to-back strikeouts to end the UW threat.

USC continued pouring it on sending nine men to the plate in a five-run second inning to take a 9-1 lead. The big blow was a two-run triple by Corey Dempster.

Despite the big deficit, the Huskies did not roll over. In their half of the second, they sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs on five hits. With the bases loaded, Kyle London singled home one run and Meggs followed with a bases loaded walk to make the score 9-3.

With two outs and the bases still loaded, Joey Morgan jumped on the first pitch he saw from Connor Lunn and hit a grand slam to left-center field that made the score 9-7. He added a RBI single an inning later that cut the deficit to 9-8 and gave him five RBIs for the game and 43 for the season – the most by a Husky since Kyle Conley drove in 55 in 2009.

The Huskies completed the momentary comeback in the sixth inning on a two-run home run by MJ Hubbs. With two outs, Hubbs jumped all over a 1-0 pitch from Wegman and hit it into the trees beyond the left-field fence for his team-best seventh home run of the year.

Bremer was able to gut through six innings despite not having his best stuff when his team desperately needed the effort. The junior left with a 10-9 lead after allowing 11 hits – only three after the second inning – six earned runs and threw 122 pitches.

UW couldn't hold the lead as USC would tie things back up in the eighth with an unearned run. After Greg Minier put two on via a walk and hit batter, Rios hit a hard grounder to first base that John Naff threw past the Graffanino covering second base. Nootbaar scored on the wild throw to make it 10-10.

After the Huskies took the lead in the ninth, Minier came out in the ninth and set the Trojans down in order. He threw the final three innings to pick up the win and move to 2-2 on the season.

USC outhit UW, 14-13, but three Trojans' pitchers combined to walk nine batters.

Five Huskies had two hits on the evening.

Game two of the series is Friday at 7:00 p.m. and will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. The first 250 fans through the gates at Husky Ballpark will receive a Tim Lincecum commemorative shirt.