With Oregon on a seven-game losing streak and the USC Trojans on an eight-game losing streak, something had to give when the two teams met in Los Angeles Friday night.
The Ducks had the advantage with ace pitcher David Peterson on the mound. He picked up his 11^th win of the season, and the Oregon Ducks defeated the USC Trojans 6-2 in Los Angeles, California.
Peterson has been a bright spot in what has been an up-and-down season for Oregon’s baseball team. He struck out nine and surrendered two runs on five hits. He walked one batter in the seven innings pitched. Peterson has 133 strikeouts this season, and was fourth in the nation in strikeouts heading into Friday night.
Kyle Kasser got the Ducks on the board in the first inning, leading the game off with a double. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Kasser then scored on a wild pitch. In the fourth inning, the Ducks gave Peterson all the cushion they would need in this game. A pair of RBI singles by Morgan McCullough and Gabe Matthews made it 3-0. Matthews finished the day 3-for-5 with the RBI. Later in the inning, Matthew Dyer hit a sacrifice fly to give the Ducks a four-run cushion.
In the fifth inning, the Trojans cut the deficit in half with an RBI-single and a fielder’s choice. The Ducks regained their four-run margin in the sixth inning when McCullough crushed a two-run homer to center field. He capped off a 3-for-5 day with three RBIs. Jake Bennett scored twice and picked up three hits.
The offense from the Ducks came from four players with multi-hit games. The rest of the lineup went a combined 0-for-14.
Game two of the three-game series is Saturday at 4 p.m.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter: @zlast3445