On Sunday, the USC baseball team suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 walk-off loss to North Carolina in Game 3 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional. With the defeat, the Trojans’ season came to an end.
Obviously, the loss was a heartbreaking one for the Trojans. Unfortunately, it was not the first brutal defeat that USC suffered this season. In fact, it marked the third time on the year that the Trojans entered the bottom of the ninth inning with the lead only to blow it and lose on a walk-off.
Back in April, USC led Nebraska 7-2 through seven innings in the opener of a massive three-game series. However, the Huskers scored three runs in the bottom of the eight and two more in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, before winning on a walk-off in the tenth. Nebraska would go on to sweep the series.
Then, two weeks ago, the Trojans were one out away from knocking off crosstown rival UCLA in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Once again, however, USC suffered a cruel twist of fate, as Mulivai Levu hit a three-run walk-off home run to stun the Trojans and send the Bruins to the championship game.
As we wrote about yesterday, this was an incredible season for USC baseball. However, it also featured three absolutely brutal losses, something that will certainly leave a sour taste in the mouths of players and fans during the offseason.
In a way, then, Sunday’s result was unfortunately a rather fitting end to the year for Andy Stankiewicz’s team. Much like they did all season, the Trojans played admirably over the three games in Chapel Hill, pushing one of the best teams in the country to the brink. At the end of the day, however, the result was an all-too-familiar one, as USC once again found itself on the wrong side of a dramatic finish.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Heartbreaking losses put a stain on USC’s otherwise amazing season
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire | USA TODAY Network
