University Southern California Trojans
USC
17-20, 8-9
Washington State
8-27, 1-13
Trojans Power Past Cougars, 10-1, To Take Series
April 19, 2019 | Baseball, Features
Isaac Esqueda tossed six scoreless innings and the Trojan offense scored in each of the first five innings to pull away early. USC improves to 17-20 on the year and 8-9 in Pac-12 play, while the Cougars fall to 8-27 overall and 1-13 in conference action.
Esqueda got some help from his defense in the first two innings as the Trojans turned double-plays to erase baserunners in each of the opening frames. The USC offense then broke open a 1-0 lead with five runs in the bottom of the second.
Tyler Pritchard singled home the first run of the second inning, followed by a bases-loaded two-run single from CJ Stubbs. Matthew Acosta plated two runs on a single as well to make it a 6-0 game. Acosta also drove in the Trojans' initial run in the bottom of the first.
Pritchard brought home another run with a sacrifice fly in the third, and then the Trojans hung two more runs on the Cougars in the fourth, getting RBI from Ben Ramirez and Chase Bushor. Jamal O'Guinn capped the scoring for USC with an RBI groundout in the fifth.
After the Trojans broke things open in the second, Esqueda stranded runners on the corners to end the third, and would work around a walk in the fourth before stranding two more runners in scoring position in the fifth courtesy of a strikeout. He struck out two batters to toss a perfect sixth.
Kyle Hurt, Austin Manning and Calvin Schapira each tossed an inning to end the game, with the lone Cougar run coming in the eighth when Washington State scored on a passed ball.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Isaac Esqueda tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, giving up four hits, while striking out six and walking four.
- CJ Stubbs went 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring three times and driving in two runs. He had a single and double on the day.
- Matthew Acosta was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored.
- Brady Shockey had two hits and a run scored.
- Clay Owens worked three walks and scored twice.
NOTABLE
- The Trojans had 10 hits in the game, giving the team double-digit hit totals in nine of its last 10 contests. USC has 118 hits over that span.
- Friday was the Trojans' second largest margin of victory this year, behind only an 11-0 win over Omaha on opening weekend.
- USC has won seven of its last 10 games and have won three of the six Pac-12 series so far this season.
COMING UP
USC and Washington State close things out on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Trojans then host UC Irvine on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Hear from Head Coach @DanHubbs40 after a complete performance from his club tonight.#FightOn pic.twitter.com/SztfWaWnte
— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) April 20, 2019
The Trojans' sophomore lefty tossed six scoreless tonight, hear from Isaac Esqueda after his third win of the year.#FightOn pic.twitter.com/Yw6pw2xShT
— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) April 20, 2019
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Esqueda, Isaac (3-2)
L: White, Brandon (2-6)
Batting:
2B: Plew, Dillon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Plew, Dillon 1
HBP: Teel, Rob 1
Batting:
2B: O'Guinn, Jamal 1 ; Shockey, Brady 1
RBI: O'Guinn, Jamal 2 ; Hartsell, Preston 1 ; Beller, John 3 ; Ramirez, Ben 1 ; Wanger, Ben 1 ; Pritchard, Tyler 2
SF: Wanger, Ben 1 ; Pritchard, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: O'Guinn, Jamal 3 ; O'Guinn, Jamal 1 ; Beller, John 1 ; Owens, Clay 2 ; Shockey, Brady 1 ; Pritchard, Tyler 2
SB: Pritchard, Tyler 1
HBP: O'Guinn, Jamal 1
