USC baseball loses to Washington at Pac-12 Tournament, waits for key result

If Stanford beats Oregon, #USC makes the #Pac12 Tournament semis on Friday. If Stanford loses, @Ducks_Wire advances.

USC could not wrap up a Pac-12 Baseball Tournament semifinal berth on Thursday afternoon in Scottsdale, Arizona. However, the Trojans just need one result to go their way, and they will still be part of Friday’s final foursome in the desert.

USC lost to the Washington Huskies, 8-3, on Thursday. USC had its chances, loading the bases in the seventh inning down 4-2 but failing to get a run, and then having the tying run at third in the top of the eighth, down 4-3, but once again failing to get over the hump. Washington scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to break the game open. USC’s bullpen, which locked down Tuesday’s win over UCLA by shutting out the Bruins in the final three innings, did not have the same effectiveness in this game. Washington was able to pad a lead twice from the sixth inning onward, preventing USC from tying the game at any point.

Washington took a 3-0 lead after five innings. USC’s one big hit of the game came from Johnny Olmstead, who lashed a two-run, two-out single in the top of the sixth to cut the Trojans’ deficit to 3-2, but Washington scored in the bottom of the sixth to increase its lead to 4-2. USC then had its chances the next two innings, but the well ran dry.

Washington joins Stanford and Arizona in Friday’s semifinals. The final berth comes down to either USC or Oregon. If Oregon beats Stanford, it advances and eliminates USC. If Oregon loses to Stanford, USC advances.

Semifinal No. 1 is at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in Scottsdale. Semifinal No. 2 is at 7 p.m.

Teams from the same pool cannot meet in the semis, so if USC does advance, it would not play Washington. The Trojans would likely play Stanford, and that would probably be the 7 p.m. game, with Washington playing Arizona at 2:30 in the first game. We’ll have an update early Friday morning on the Pac-12 Tournament, setting the table for Friday’s semis. We will find out soon enough if USC will be part of the festivities.

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