Near USC comeback sets tone for UCLA rivalry series

USC welcomed 14th-ranked UCLA to Great Park in Irvine, California. The Trojans fell behind in the fourth after taking the early lead. Their rally effort ended up falling short. In was a late evening, however, that showed what coach Andy Stankiewicz's ball club is capable of. If the home team can force a rubber match, Sunday could give fans a great matchup to look forward to to ultimately decide the series.

That's a side aspect for now, as USC lost the game 7-6 on Friday evening. Between errors and leaving base runners stranded, the Trojans will feel that they can not only win the series but that they should really be up 1-0 on the weekend.

It was a rough top of the fourth that gave the visitors a comfortable 6-2 lead. The bats responded in the bottom of the inning to narrow the deficit. Ethan Hedges hit a two-run RBI single to bring the scoreline to 6-4. Wylan Moss entered the game for the Bruins at that point and got the needed two outs for UCLA to get out with further damage.

Abbrie Covarrubias had a nice double during the fifth to put himself in scoring position. On a good play by Moss, Covarrubias was caught stealing third as the Trojan tried to gain an extra 90 feet, which instead saw UCLA get a critical out.

The sixth saw both teams able to preserve the scoreline. From a Trojan pitching change, UCLA managed to tack one more run on at the top of the seventh. Covarrubias then did well to stay alive with bases loaded and managed to drive in a run on a productive out. With two outs and a man on second and third, Jack Basseer struck out swinging on a full count, and the Trojan side was retired.

During the bottom of the eighth, two consecutive walks forced the Bruins to make a pitching change. UCLA managed to strike two more USC batters out, and they progressed to the ninth. A double by 

USC efforts come up short in game that escaped from the Trojans

Adrian Lopez kicked things off for the Trojans' last chance to grab the rally. Basseer hit an RBI single to pull USC within one. The bases-loaded scenario then didn't yield any more fruit as freshman Easton Hawk earned the save.

As mentioned, coach Stankiewicz will have Saturday to make up for Friday's result. Considering how the Trojans were able to out-hit their ranked opponents and gifted and gave up runs through their own fixable mistakes, USC should be able to tie things up and head into Sunday in a position to win the series.