SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Defensive miscues and a sputtering offense hampered the Redhawks' hopes in their opening game of the Tony Gwynn Legacy Classic in San Diego, as Seattle U fell to Southern California, 6-2, on Friday.
Four Redhawks (2-3) tallied hits on the day including Connor O'Brien who led off the sixth with solo shot to left, for his first career home run. O'Brien, Nolan Jekich, Justin Mazzone and Julian Kodama each finished 1-for-4 on the day.
Seattle U then scored in the ninth to make it 6-2, as Drake Maningo reached on a USC fielding error, allowing Jekich to score from third. Jekich began the frame with a lead off double down the left field line, before advancing to third on a Kodama fly to center.
The Redhawks were dealt a rough first inning as the defense surrendered two of their four errors on the day, while the Trojans opened the scoring with a three-run homer off starter Jarrod Billig.
From there however, the Seattle U defense settled in holding USC scoreless through the fourth, including a three-up, three-down frame for Billing in the third.
USC stretched its lead to 5-0 in the fifth, before tacking on one more run in the eighth.
Billig (0-2) was issued the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings with three strikeouts. Tyler Yeh had a solid relief performance, tossing 2.2 innings as he kept USC of the board and hitless during his outing. Max Cuenca also took the mound the Redhawks as he worked the eighth.
The Redhawks are scheduled to returned action on Saturday as they fave co-host San Diego. First pitch against the Toreros from Fowler Park is slated for 6 pm.