USC Baseball Edges Washington State, 3-2, in Pitchers' Duel

LOS ANGELES – The USC baseball team got 6.1 strong innings from Chandler Champlain and several clutch hits on the day to take down Washington State 3-2 at home on Saturday afternoon.
 
Ben Ramirez drove in what turned out to be the game-winning run in the fifth inning for USC, as the Trojans move to 22-21 overall and 10-13 in Pac-12 play on the season.
 
USC broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the fourth, getting RBI doubles from both Garret Guillemette and John Thomas to go up 2-0. Ramirez would drive in Tyler Pritchard with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give USC a three-run cushion.
 
Washington State finally broke through in the seventh after Champlain kept the Cougars in check for the first six innings of the day. The cougars finally got the Trojan righty, loading the bases with three straight one-out singles, the last of which brought home a run. After the Trojans went to the pen, Washington State drew a bases-loaded walk, but Toby Spach came in and shut down the rally with a flyout to left, keeping the Trojans in front, 3-2.
 
Spach would toss a scoreless eighth and then got the first two outs of the ninth before giving way to Nate Clow for the final out of the game. Spach allowed one hit, no runs and no walks in 2.0 innings of work. Champlain on the day gave up five hits and two runs, picking up his third win of the season in the process. Prior to the seventh, he allowed just one runner to get past second base and retired nine in a row at one point.
 
The victory gives USC a Pac-12 series win after the Trojans took the opener, 8-6, last night. USC will go for the sweep Sunday at noon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Chandler Champlain: W (3-4), 6.1 IP, 5H, 2ER, BB, 3K
• Toby Spach: 2.0 IP, H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
• John Thomas: 1-for-3, RBI, 2B, HBP
• Garret Guillemette: 1-for-4, RBI, R, 2B

 
UP NEXT
The Trojans and Cougars wrap things up on Sunday at 12 p.m. The series finale will be streamed live on Pac-12+ via USCTrojans.com. Links to follow are available on the baseball schedule page at USCTrojans.com.