USC Baseball Wins Series With 6-3 Victory at No. 15 UCLA
LOS ANGELES – The USC baseball team got six strong innings on the mound from Charlie Hurley and made a five-run first inning stand up, beating the No. 15 UCLA Bruins 6-3 on Sunday afternoon to win their first series in Westwood since 2016.
The Trojans took the opener and then fell yesterday before bouncing back on Sunday. USC improves to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 play with the victory, while the Bruins, who were coming off a win over No. 1 Texas prior to this series, fall to 10-6, 1-2.
Rhylan Thomas set the tone in the first at-bat of the game, working a walk in an eight-pitch at-bat, and one batter later Tyresse Turner singled home Thomas and D'Andre Smith to open the scoring. Turner would come home on a single by Adrian Colon-Rosado and then Garret Guillemette busted things open with a mammoth two-run shot to left.
The Trojans would only score one more the rest of the way, but the USC pitching did its part by holding the Bruin bats in check all afternoon. Hurley scattered seven hits and gave up two runs to earn the win in the start, and then Carson Lambert and Matt Keating combined to slam the door shut. Lambert gave up one run on two hits while striking out a pair and walking none. Keating entered with one on and no outs in the eighth and promptly got a popout and two K's to end the inning. He would pour in three more strikeouts in the ninth to earn the save.
The USC defense was crucial to the win as well, with the Trojans turning three double plays on the day and making several highlight reel catches.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Charlie Hurley: 6.0 IP, 7H, 2R, 2BB, 2K
- Matt Keating: 2.0 IP, H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
- Tyresse Turner: 3-for-5, 2RBI, R
- Garret Guillemette: 2-for-4, 2-R HR
COMING UP
The Trojans host UConn on Tuesday and then continue Pac-12 play next weekend as they host Cal for a three-game series starting on Friday. All four home games will be streamed live on Pac-12+ via USCTrojans.com. Links to follow can be found on the baseball schedule page.
Hear from @USCCoachGill after the Trojans picked up their first series win in Westwood since 2016 #FightOn pic.twitter.com/Wt5aAafXb5
— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) March 14, 2022