Peterson wins as offense comes alive

Friday, May 19

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

27-22, 10-15

USC

19-30, 6-19

Oregon

USC

05/19/17 | Baseball

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – David Peterson gave Oregon another strong start and the Ducks' offense broke out of a slump in a 6-2 win over USC on Friday night at Dedeaux Field.

Peterson allowed two runs on just five hits in seven innings while striking out nine and walking just one. The Ducks' lefty moved his record to 11-3, just one win shy of the Oregon single-season record.

How it happened: Kyle Kasser continued his strong play at the top of the lineup helping the Ducks take a first inning lead. Kasser doubled over the first base bag, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. It looked like Oregon would add to the lead after Spencer Steer walked and Gabe Mathews and Matthew Dyer had back-to-back hits to load the bases, but USC starter Connor Lunn (0-3) struck out Tim Susnara and got Kenyon Yovan to fly out to end the inning.

Oregon (27-22, 10-15 Pac-12) added three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Morgan McCullough drove in the first run with a single after Jake Bennett and Kasser put runners on first and third with back-to-back base hits. Matthews drove in the next run with an infield hit after the runners moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Steer. Dyer picked up the final RBI with a sacrifice fly scoring McCullough for a 4-0 lead.

USC (19-30, 6-19 Pac-12) cut the lead to two with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Oregon got them right back in the sixth. McCullough unloaded a two-run home run, the first of his career, to dead center field scoring Bennett who led off the inning with his third hit of the game.

Peterson record watch: Of his nine strikeouts, two caught USC batters looking to run his season total to 30 which ties Alex Keudell (2012) and Tyler Anderson (2011) for the most in a single season … His 11th win tied him with Tommy Thorpe (2014) and Keudell (2012) for the second most in a single season … The win was the 19th of his career, tying Robbie Snow (1962-64) for the sixth most in school history.

Box score notes: Oregon's run in the top of the first broke a 19-inning scoreless streak … The Ducks' 13 hits were the most in a game since they had 13 vs. Stanford on April 22 … Kasser, McCullough, Matthews, Dyer and Bennett combined for all 13 hits … McCullough was 3-for-5 with two runs scored while matching a season-high with three RBI … Bennett went 3-for-4 with two runs scored breaking out of a 1-for-24 slump while batting ninth for the first time this year … Matthews was 3-for-5 with a RBI .. Dyer went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Kasser was 2-for-5 with two runs scored … Dyer, Bennett and Matthews all had their 11th multi-hit game and are tied for the third most on the team … Kasser had his team-best 21st multi-hit game, which is tied for the fifth most in school history … Matthews finished with his 10th multi-hit game … Bennett had his fifth three-hit game, while McCullough had his fourth.

On Deck: The Ducks and Trojans play game two of the series on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.