College baseball: USC topples Washington State 8-6 in series opener

Southern California scored three runs in the sixth and ninth innings to overcome two home runs by Washington State’s Blake Clanton and defeat the Cougars 8-6 on Friday in a Pac-12 baseball series opener at Bailey-Brayton Field.

WSU scored two runs in the fifth, building a 4-1 lead as Clanton hit a solo home run and James Rudkin added an RBI double.

USC’s Stephen Dubb hit an RBI double and freshman Jamal O’Guinn added a two-run single in the Trojans’ three-run sixth. O’Guinn drove in another run with a single in the eighth. In the ninth, USC scored a run after three wild pitches and Dubb drove in two more with a single.

Trailing 8-4, Clanton hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth and JJ Hancock drew a two-out walk before Rudkin’s deep drive to right field was caught for the final out.

USC (22-22, 10-15 Pac-12) plays at Washington State (14-26-1, 6-15-1) Saturday at 2 p.m.

(11) UCLA 7, Washington 3: The Bruins (31-14, 15-7 Pac-12) overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Huskies (23-21, 13-9) in a series opener in Seattle.

In the fourth inning, Jonathan Schiffer hit a two-run double and Braiden Ward added a run-scoring single to give Washington a 3-0 lead.

UCLA tied it in the fifth on a three-run home run by Michael Toglia, then took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning on a single by Jack Stronach. UCLA added a single run in the seventh and two in the eighth.