Oregon baseball suffered numerous blunders in its 7-3 loss to No. 10 USC on Sunday at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles.
The Ducks played well enough on both side of the field to win Sunday’s contest, but six walks, three hit batters and a critical error pushed home two unearned runs to bury Oregon in the rubber match.
After putting up 15 runs against the Trojans (29-10, 10-5) on Saturday, Oregon (23-18, 5-10) was shut down by USC’s Sunday starter Mitch Hart (6-1), who allowed just one run on three hits in six innings.
Conor Harber (3-2) got the start for Oregon, but turned in his second shaky outing since suffering a shoulder injury against Michigan State two weekends ago. The junior lasted just one inning and gave up three runs on two hits, two walks and two hit batters.
For the second series in a row, Josh Graham provided plenty of long-relief for Harber. Graham nearly matched his six inning relief outing last Sunday against Oregon State and pitched for five innings, giving up one run on four hits.
Jakob Goldfarb opened the game with a bang and sent the first pitch of the game over the right field fence to give Oregon a 1-0 lead, but USC’s second baseman Dante Flores responded with a 2 RBI single in the bottom half of the first to claim a 2-1 lead.
Harber walked a batter then beaned another to end his outing in the second inning, but Graham did his best to limit the damage. Graham allowed just one run on a Garrett Stubbs sacrifice fly, giving USC a 3-1 advantage.
In the fourth, Stubbs picked up another RBI via the sacrifice fly after left fielder Bobby Stahel hit a one-out triple to push the lead to 4-1.
Oregon finally responded in the seventh inning as Nick Catalano scored Tim Susnara and Mark Karaviotis on a 2 RBI single, but the Ducks stranded the tying and go-ahead runs on base and settled with a one run deficit.
Graham turned the ball over to Stephen Nogosek in the seventh with the game in reach, but Nogosek would have a rough go with the top of the Trojan lineup.
Nogosek walked the No. 2 hitter Stubbs to start the inning, then a Karaviotis error allowed Jeremy Martinez to reach. Center fielder Timmy Robinson executed a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position, then Flores walked to load the bases.
Nogosek hit third baseman Blake Lacey to force home an unearned run, then right fielder David Oppenheim followed up with a sacrifice fly to push the lead up back up to three runs.
Garrett Cleavinger relieved Nogosek in the eighth, but gave up a manufactured insurance run to make the score 7-3.
Oregon dropped the weekend series, but continued to show flashes of improved play in the pitching department and on offense. Even so, the Ducks can’t afford losing another Pac-12 series if they have any plans of making the NCAA Tournament.
Next up, the Ducks return home for a three game weekend series with Washington at P.K. Park.
Follow Josh Schlichter on Twitter @joshschlichter
Oregon baseball can’t get out of its own way in 7-3 loss to USC
Josh Schlichter
April 18, 2015
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