USC fumbles in extra-inning loss after Mason Edwards first to 100 strike outs
· Yahoo Sports
The No. 12 USC Trojans could not survive the Nebraska Cornhuskers' late-game push in an 8-7 loss, Friday night.
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The Trojans had a 7-2 lead going into the eighth inning, following another dominant performance from Mason Edwards. He posted a final stat line of 12 strike outs and two runs in seven innings, his eighth double-digit strike out game of the season. Edwards became the first pitcher in Division I to reach 100 strike outs on the season, also the first USC pitcher to reach this number since Ian Kennedy in 2006.
But the tides shifted following his departure. The Trojans introduced Gavin Lauridsen out of the bullpen in the eighth inning, which prompted Cornhusker Jett Buck to knock a double to left center. After a Will Jesske walk, Joshua Overbeek mashed a three-run home run to right center to cut the USC lead to two.
The inning continued with a base hit from Rhett Stokes and a walk from Mac Moyer, which led to a USC pitching change that brought in Trojan closer Adam Troy to finish the inning. The USC offense was firing on all cylinders in the several innings before, but failed to gain insurance runs in the ninth.
As the Cornhuskers took the plate for a last-ditch effort to overthrow their Big Ten competitors, the Trojans' collapse began to show. Nebraska's Case Sanderson swatted a base hit off the pitcher's mound to center field, followed by Abbrie Covarrubias' second fielding error of the game to put Dylan Carey on base as the tying run. Next at bat, Buck lifted a fly ball to the left field warning track that silenced the crowd, which was eventually caught and allowed Sanderson to score.
The score now 7-6, with the Nebraska crowd's energy flooding onto the field, Troy walked pinch hitter Preston Freeman, then permitted a fly ball to move Case to third base. Troy, looking to secure the game's final out against Overbeek, spiked a ball into the dirt. The ball ricocheted away from USC catcher Isaac Cadena to allow Case to reach home and tie the game 7-7.
Sax Matson took the mound to relieve Troy and complete the ninth inning. USC needed to secure runners on base in order to swing the momentum back towards their direction. Instead, each Trojan batter struck out, having fallen victim to Nebraska closer J'Shawn Unger.
The bottom of the tenth began with a walk from Stokes. Moyer followed and showed bunt on the first pitch, but pulled back. The next pitch, Moyer showed bunt again and laid it down. A slow roller toward the mound, Matson fielded the ball and fired it to first. The ball hooked behind Moyer, past first base, and into foul territory in right field. Stokes rounded both second and third to score the winning run in walk-off fashion.
The gut-wrenching loss spoiled what was another imposing effort from Edwards. Prior to this point, USC's offense was relentless. Isaac Cadena, Kevin Takeuchi, and Jack Basseer each had multi-hit games, with five RBIs amongst the trio.
But USC ultimately lost their second straight game on the roadtrip, bringing their record to 30-9. Their conference record moved to 13-6 and their away record fell to 8-8. Nebraska's overall record improved to 29-9, their conference to 13-3, and their home to 17-1.
The Trojans will hope to bounce back in the second game of the series in Lincoln. USC will face Nebraska Saturday at 12:00 p.m. PST.