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USC pitcher Jaden Agassi isn’t the first Friday night starter the Oregon Duck offense has hit hard and he won’t be the last.
But that fact probably doesn’t make the Trojan hurler feel any better as he was knocked out in the fourth inning. Agassi gave up nine runs, six earned, and 10 hits before the Ducks held off a late USC rally to win it 9-7 at PK Park.
Oregon (15-6, 6-1) has now won four straight conference games and five straight overall. USC fell to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in Pac-12 action.
As usual, the Ducks used the long ball to take the lead on two separate occasions. Josh Kasevich put Oregon on the scoreboard in the first with a three-run homer to left-center that bounced off the top of the wall before going over.
After the Trojans Johnny Olmstead tied the game with a three-run homer of his own in the second, USC took a brief 4-3 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly. But as per usual, the Duck offense immediately answered with Brennan Milone’s two-run bomb to left to give Oregon the lead for good at 5-4.
The Ducks added two more runs in that four-run third and two more insurance runs for a commanding 9-4 advantage.
It was a commanding advantage for long, however.
The Trojans scored one in the fourth and put two runners on base off of Oregon starter RJ Gordon. Oregon went to the bullpen, but USC managed to put two runs across in the sixth to make it 9-7.
It turned into the battle of the bullpens where both teams’ relievers did yeoman’s work. Oregon’s relievers threw four scoreless innings and USC’s bullpen shut down the conference’s most potent offense for five innings.
Kolby Somers pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season.
Jacob Walsh went 3-for-5 with a double and Kasevich drove in four runs for the Ducks. Olmstead also drove in four runs for the Trojans.
These two teams will get together for Game 2 of the weekend series with a first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Isaac Ayon (2-0, 5.33 ERA) will start on the mound for the Ducks and he will face USC’s Tyler Stromsborg (1-1, 2.88 ERA). The contest will be streamed on goducks.com.
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