April 12, 2013
SATURDAY RADIO | SATURDAY STATS
LOS ANGELES - Starting right-hander Trevor Williams threw his third complete game of the season, but the 15th-ranked Arizona State University baseball team dropped its series opener at USC, 5-0, on Friday night at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles.
Third baseman Michael Benjamin recorded the only hit of the game for the Sun Devils (20-10-1, 6-7) as USC starting left-hander Sean Silva and reliever Brent Wheatley combined to retire 16 of the 26 batters they faced. ASU reached on a pair of fielders' choices, took three walks and was also hit by four pitches.
Williams (4-3), who tossed his fifth career complete game, took the loss after allowing five runs, including four earned, on 12 hits in eight innings. He struck out one and did not walk a batter for the second time this season and his eighth career start.
Silva (1-1) earned his first career win after six shutout innings with four strikeouts, and Wheatley (4) collected the save in three scoreless relief innings.
Right fielder Trever Allen shined defensively as he threw out Trojan base runners at home with two outs in consecutive innings to keep a pair of runs off the scoreboard.
ASU loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a walk, hit batter and a fielders' choice, but Allen flew out to right field to end the game.
The Trojans (13-20, 6-7) took the lead with one run in the bottom of the second inning on a leadoff double and a pair of groundouts, and added another run in the following frame on an RBI single to right field to go ahead, 2-0, after three.
USC extended its lead, 4-0, in the fifth inning as they put two more runs on the board on a pair of hits and an error.
Allen fielded a two-out single and then threw out the lead runner at home as catcher Max Rossiter blocked the plate to prevent a USC run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Allen did the same thing in the eighth inning, but threw the Trojan base runner out two feet in front of the dish to keep ASU's deficit to five after USC scored on the preceding at-bat.
Up Next:
The Sun Devils continue their three-game series with the Trojans on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Dedeaux Field. The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 or through the All-Access player on thesundevils.com, and will also be streamed live at www.Pac-12.com/live/usctrojans. Fans can also follow the team on Twitter at @ASU_Baseball for live scoring and updates from the weekend, and check thesundevils.com for stats, notes and more.
Game Notes:
This is the second Friday night conference road game in which ASU has collected just one hit...Oregon State starter Matt Boyd threw a complete game one-hitter on March 22 in Corvallis.
Saturday's Pitching Matchup
ASU: LHP Ryan Kellogg (7-0, 2.19)
USC: RHP Wyatt Strahan (1-1, 2.20)
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