Pitching and Defense Lead USC Baseball to 3-1 Win Over Nevada

Final Stats | Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore

LOS ANGELES – The USC baseball team got seven strong innings from starter Isaac Esqueda, a few timely hits and a strong defensive effort across the field to beat Nevada 3-1 in the opening game of a three-game set on Friday night at Dedeaux Field.
 
The Trojans move to 4-6 overall on the year with the win, while Nevada drops to 4-5 with the loss.
 
The Wolfpack jumped out front early, getting a solo-homer from Dario Gomez in the top half of the first, but Esqueda would settle in on the mound, tossing six shutout innings from there on out. Esqueda finished with 7.0 innings pitched, giving up just the one run on three hits.
 
The Trojans would even things up in the third, when Tyler Pritchard led the inning off with a double and then was promptly driven in on a single up the middle by Jamal O'Guinn. USC then loaded the bases in the sixth and got a run when Garret Guillemette grounded into a double-play to go up 2-1. The Trojans added an insurance run in the eighth, when Tyresse Turner broke for third, the pickoff throw initially went to second and then an errant attempt to get Turner at third allowed him to score and make it 3-1.
 
Quentin Longrie replaced Esqueda in the eighth and walked the bases loaded with no outs. He dug deep, however, getting two strikeouts and then a lineout to third to strand the runners and end the threat with the Trojans still up one. Earlier in the night, Ben Ramirez helped Esqueda get out of a jam as well, scooping up a slow chopper at third and firing across the diamond to get the out and strand runners on second and third with the game tied 1-1.
 
Nate Clow came in to pitch the ninth, picking up his second save of the season with a dominant 1-2-3 frame. He struck out two of the three batters he faced.
 
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Isaac Esqueda: 7.0 IP, 3H, 1R, 3BB, 4K
• Nate Clow: 1 run scored, 1.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• Jamal O'Guinn: 1-for-4, game-tying RBI single
• Tyler Pritchard: 1-for-3, 1 run score, 2B
• Rhylan Thomas: 2-for-3, 2 singles, sac bunt
• Ben Ramirez: 2-for-3, 2 singles

 
UP NEXT
The Trojans continue their series with the Wolfpack tomorrow at 2 p.m. and then wrap things up on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on Pac-12+ via USCTrojans.com.