A balanced effort and extraordinary comeback help the Trojans sweep the defending champion Bruins in their home stadium and keep their winning streak alive.
After blowing out the UCLA Bruins (22-19, 9-9) on Thursday night, the USC Trojans (24-17, 11-9) kept their hot streak rolling by winning the next two games and sweeping the weekend series against their long-time rival at Jackie Robinson Stadium. This was the first sweep the cardinal and gold had against UCLA since 2005.
The Trojans edged the Bruins 3-2 on Friday night behind great starting pitching and timely hitting. Right-hander Brent Wheatley (4-1) secured his fourth win of the season by surrendering two runs (one earned) on just three hits while striking out four and walking three through six innings.
USC got on the board early once again thanks to an RBI single by first baseman Jake Hernandez in the first inning off of Bruins starter Grant Watson. Hernandez finished the game 2 for 3 and has a team-high .367 batting average this season.
UCLA responded with two runs in the bottom of the second inning after some bad Trojans defense. With the bases loaded, third baseman Aaron Weimer hit a ground ball at USC second baseman Dante Flores and his arid throw ended up in left field. This allowed freshmen Luke Persico and Justin Hazard to score from third and second, respectively.
The Trojans wouldn’t be down for long and took the lead for good in the fourth inning. Shortstop Reggie Southall had an RBI double off of Watson to tie the game at 2. Third baseman Kevin Swick then drove him in with an RBI single to give back the lead to USC. Watson (4-6) suffered the loss for the Bruins pitching seven innings and allowing three runs on six hits, four walks, and striking out four.
The Trojans bullpen slammed the door on the Bruins pitching three scoreless innings to finish the game. Sophomore lefty Kyle Twomey threw 1.2 innings and struck out three without giving up a hit. Closer Kyle Davis secured his team-leading sixth save of the year by recording the last four outs for USC.
Saturday afternoon was much more of a wild finish with the Trojans rallying from a four run deficit in the ninth inning to beat the Bruns 7-4. UCLA jumped out to an early lead against Trojans ace Bob Wheatley. Designated-hitter Kevin Williams ignited the offense with a two-run double in the third inning and followed that with another RBI double in the fifth inning. Williams finished the day going 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
Catcher Shane Zeile also had a run-scoring single in the fifth inning to give UCLA a 4-0 lead. He finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Left-fielder Ty Moore went 3-for-4 with two runs scored as well.
The Bruins offense chased Wheatley during the fifth inning. The lefty pitched 4.2 innings and surrendered four earned runs on seven hits and only one strikeout. On the contrary, UCLA got a brilliant start from Cody Poteet. The right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings scattering four hits and four walks while striking out two. Reliever Jake Ehret pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Bruins but disaster would strike for them in the ninth.
The USC bats suddenly awoke in the final inning and six different players drove in seven runs for the Trojans off of three UCLA relievers. Righty Nick Kern was brought in to start the ninth and was quickly roughed up allowing three consecutive singles to load the bases. Southall drew a bases-loaded walk to put USC on the board at 4-1. Swick then followed with an RBI single to make it a 2-run deficit.
With the bases still loaded and nobody out, Kern was replaced by lefty Max Schuh to face second baseman Garrett Stubbs and walked him on four pitches to cut the lead to one. UCLA manager John Savage then went to his bullpen again and brought in right-hander Grant Dyer, his third reliever of the inning.
Dyer surrendered an RBI single to catcher Jake Martinez which tied the game at 4. Then the red-hot Hernandez brought home the go-ahead run on an RBI single to give the Trojans a 5-4 lead. After two straight outs, designated-hitter Blake Lacey, who led off the inning with a single, padded the lead by hitting a two-run double to give USC a three-run lead. Lacey finished 3 for 5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Kern (1-1) suffered his first loss of the season for the Bruins surrendering five earned runs on four hits and one walk in the ninth without recording an out. Davis (2-3) ended up with the win after tossing three hitless relief innings for the Trojans.
USC showed outstanding resilience in this game and this win symbolizes how unstoppable this team is right now as their winning streak extends to nine. While everything is going right for the Trojans, the same can’t be said for UCLA who have now dropped nine of 13. The Bruins must try to rebound from these difficult losses to their crosstown foes and use it as motivation for their upcoming games.
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