Coming off a sweep of Oregon State and an 18-1 dismantling of Portland, the Oregon baseball team fell short, 9-5, in the first matchup of a three-game series against USC Friday night.

The Ducks started things on the right foot in the top of the first. Anthony Hall singled and Kenyon Yovan walked to set the table. After the two runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, Aaron Zavala grounded out to bring the first run home. 

Josh Kasevich, who had five hits and six RBIs against Portland on Wednesday, came in clutch with a two-out single to give the Ducks an early 2-0 lead.

Robert Ahlstrom started for the Ducks, with his season ERA down to 2.00. After a perfect first inning, he ran into trouble with a single and a walk in the second, but induced a double play ball to get out of it.

The Ducks got a runner in scoring position in each of the second and third innings, but couldn’t drive in either one as the score remained 2-0.

Gabe Matthews led off the fourth with a single, the 212th of his career which broke J.J. Altobelli’s school record. Sam Novitske moved him to third with a long single of his own, and Jack Scanlon made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Ahlstrom gave up a single in the bottom of the fourth, and the runner advanced to third on a two-base throwing error by Ahlstrom. The runner came home on a groundout to get USC on the board.

Oregon fought back with a run of their own in the next frame though, as Zavala doubled, and Kasevich and Matthews hit back-to-back singles to make it 4-1.

USC rallied off Ahlstrom in the bottom of the fifth. After two hits and a walk got it back to 4-3, a fielder’s choice out brought home the tying run. With two outs, a triple down the right field line gave the Trojans a 5-4 lead.

Zavala hit his second double of the game in the seventh. Kasevich and Matthews drew walks to load the bases, but Novitske grounded into a double play as the Ducks blew a gargantuan chance at tying the game.

USC made Oregon pay for not cashing in, as Nico Tellache gave up a two-run rocket of a home run in the bottom of the seventh. With two runners on, he was replaced by RJ Gordon. Gordon walked a batter but got out of the jam, finishing with a strikeout and pumping his fist as he trotted off the mound. At the time, he was still yet to allow a run in his collegiate career.

Oregon got one back in the eighth on an Anthony Hall RBI groundout, but that was the extent of the damage.

With two on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth and Gordon still on the mound, left fielder Tanner Smith dove for a ball and came up just short. Two runs came in to make it 9-5, the first two runs charged to Gordon this season.

Oregon went down quietly in the ninth as the Trojans took game one by a score of 9-5.

The Ducks fall to 20-8, ending their four-game winning streak. They’ll play game two of the three-game series against USC Saturday at 2:00 p.m.