Oregon suffers lopsided loss, drops crucial series to USC
Oregon entered the weekend with an opportunity to gain significant ground in the Pac-12 standings and bolster its resume.
Instead, the Ducks suffered through a pair of uncompetitive losses and dropped a significant series.
On Sunday, Oregon fell 11-4 to USC at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles. Following Friday’s 7-2 loss and Saturday’s 7-5 win, the Ducks were blown out by the Trojans in the series finale.
As a result, they drop to 31-16 on the year, 14-10 in Pac-12 play, and have now dropped to fourth place in the conference standings.
Colby Shade and Rikku Nishida each went 2-for-4 and reached base three times apiece for the Ducks. Drew Cowley and Sabin Ceballos each hit solo homers.
But Oregon was overpowered by a dynamic USC offense early in the afternoon.
Freshman right-hander Matthew Grabmann made his third consecutive Sunday start for the Ducks and was sharp during the first inning.
But the Trojans ambushed him for six runs and seven hits in the second inning and put the game out of reach early.
Grabmann hit USC leadoff man Austin Overn with the bases loaded to send home the Trojans’ first run. Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek followed with a two-run single up the middle to make it 3-0, and Carson Wells followed with a single of his own to make it 4-0.
Johnny Olmstead finished off the scoring with a two-run single to make it 6-0.
Turner Spoljaric took over for Grabmann at the start of the third inning but didn’t fare much better. After a clean third, the Trojans tagged him for four runs in the fourth inning. This time around, Jacob Galloway did the heavy lifting with a two-run double.
Oregon showed signs of life in the fifth inning when Cowley and Ceballos launched back-to-back homers. Each player now has 13 dingers on the season, which is tied for the team lead.
Cowley’s blast was his ninth of the year in Pac-12 play.
But the Trojans stole back momentum one inning later when Adrian Colon-Rosado roped a run-scoring single to the right side.
Oregon will look to get back on track next weekend when it hosts Washington (28-14, 13-10 Pac-12) for a three-game series at PK Park in Eugene.
There is no word yet on the health status of Oregon Friday night starter Jace Stoffal. The Ducks’ ace was scratched from his start on Friday for undisclosed reasons and freshman Leo Uelmen started in his place.
Stoffal is 6-2 on the year with a 2.83 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings.
