USC
Oregon
Late Trojan Rally Not Enough, Fall 8-5 at Oregon
April 17, 2016 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The Trojans pulled within one with a three-run home run off the bat of Adalberto Carrillo, but that is as close as the Trojans would get, as they chased the Ducks all day, eventually falling 8-5 in game three of the series on Sunday afternoon at PK Park.
Carrillo (Santa Ana, Calif./Tustin HS) led the Trojans at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a team-leading three RBI and two runs scored.
The Ducks (17-12, 7-5 Pac-12) jumped out to an early5-0 lead through the first two frames, touching up starter Kyle Davis (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica HS) for two in the first and three in the second. He ended up settling in to not allow any more runs through his final three innings of work, but the damage was done and he took the loss.
The Trojans (15-19, 5-7 Pac-12) slowly chipped away at the lead, plating one in the third on a Corey Dempster (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola HS) RBI single and another in the fifth on a sac fly by David Oppenheim (Mercer Island, Wash./Chabot College) to make it a 5-2 game.
The Ducks answered with one more in the bottom of the sixth to push their lead to 6-2.
The Trojans made things interesting in the eighth inning, putting together a rally that pulled the Trojans within one and brought the potential game-leading run to the plate. Jeremy Martinez (Fountain Valley, Calif./Mater Dei HS) singled to lead things off. Then with one out, AJ Ramirez (Phoenix, Ariz./Bakersfield Christian HS) to put two on. Top reliever Brac Warren entered in relief of Issaiah Carranza for the Ducks. The Trojans had the hit-and-run on, and Frankie Rios (Lakewood, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) could not catch up the slider down in the zone and Ducks catcher Slade Heggen threw out the lead runner, Martinez, trying to advance to 3rd for the second out. Rios then singled to right field to put two on with two down for the Trojans. Carrillo then came to the plate and launched a three-run opposite field home run to pull the Trojans within one, 6-5. The Ducks went back to the pen for closer Stephen Nogosek, and Dillon Paulson (Encinitas, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) singled to continue the rally and bring the potential game-leading run to the plate. However, Angelo Armenta (Monrovia, Calif./Loyola HS) made the final out to end the rally.
The Ducks were able to answer against reliever Brooks Kriske (Palm Desert, Calif./Palm Desert HS), plating two runs on three hits to push their lead to 8-5.
The Trojans went quietly in the ninth to drop the game, getting swept in the series. It is the first time the Trojans have been swept in a series since they went 0-3 to Washington at home in 2014.
The Trojans will head back to southern California, hosting Long Beach State on Tuesday, April 19 at 6 p.m. PT.
