USC Drops Game One of the Crosstown Showdown

USC Baseball (19-23, 6-13) started their three-game series against rival UCLA Bruins (22-20, 11-8) with a 2-0 loss. The Trojan bats couldn’t do enough damage to keep pace with Bruins who jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a home run from freshman Chase Strumpf in the second inning. Bruins pitcher Griffin Canning went the distance, shutting out the Trojans. Canning pitched all nine innings allowing 7 hits, with zero earned runs, 1 walk and eye-popping 10 strikeouts on what was a season-high 133 pitches.

Trojans pitcher CJ Stubbs held his own with 5 strikeouts thru 6 innings of work, however with USC bats were limited to only seven hits (all singles). Even in the midst of a 8th inning rally the Trojans left the bases loaded, coming up short on the first night of the cross-town showdown.

USC will look to bounce back tomorrow night when freshman Chris Clarke (5.64 ERA) puts his 4-1 record on the line against UCLA Senior Moises Ceja (2-4 2.96 ERA). You can find the game tomorrow (7 pm start time) on PAC-12 Los Angeles and of course on PAC-12.com and the PAC-12 Now App.

W: Griffin Canning (5-2) 9 IP 10 K 7 H BB

L: CJ Stubbs (0-4) 6 IP 2 ER 5 K 7 H BB

Top Performers:

Chase Strumpf (UCLA) 2-4 HR 2 RBI R

Frankie Rios (USC) 2-4