Fresno State baseball coach Mike Batesole tweaked his lineup a bit Friday for the first of a three-game series against USC, hoping somewhere in there they could string together some productive at-bats.

Shortstop Chris Mariscal was at the top of the lineup and the Bulldogs' veteran hitters were bunched in the middle for the first time of three games -- Aaron Judge, Trent Garrison and Austin Wynns, the All-American junior and two seniors, at three, four and five in the order.

It produced some loud outs, but little more in what had to be a maddening 9-1 loss to the Trojans that got away from Fresno State over the final four innings before 2,091 fans at Beiden Field.

It not only dropped the Bulldogs to 1-7 -- their worst start since opening 1-9 in 2005 -- but the way it came about could only further irritate a bunch that came in hitting just .228 and scoring 3.4 runs per game.

The Trojans scored three in the fifth against Will Munro, an inning that included a bloop single to center, a run-scoring infield hit and a chopper over the head and just out of the reach of third baseman Kevin Viers that made it into left field and also drove in a run.

That kind of thing ain't happening for the Bulldogs right now, and when the Trojans started adding on against the bullpen in an ugly seventh that included four errors (two on one play by second baseman Brody Russell), it was long gone.

"We gave them some, too. We walked a guy. We hit a guy. Then they dink a couple balls in and it's a quick three," Batesole said. "They swung the bat pretty good on the night -- that inning they didn't particularly swing it well and they got rewarded for it, but overall they swung the bat pretty good."

The Bulldogs could do little against USC junior left-hander Bob Wheatley. They had eight hits and only four at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

In the fourth, right before the Trojans (6-3) pushed their first runs across against Munro, Wynns hit a rocket up the middle that Wheatley knocked down and freshman Taylor Ward drove Trojans' left fielder Turner Clouse to the wall.

Before that, Trent Garrison lined out to right with two runners on.

But that, of course, only added up to one of the eight zeros the Bulldogs put up. Through eight games, their strikeout total (73) still exceeds their hits (62).

"I thought we swung the bats very well early in the game," Batesole said. "We hit some balls at them and they made some nice plays -- you have to give them credit, too."

Up next

USC (6-3) at Fresno State (1-7), 6:35 p.m. Saturday at Beiden Field

Radio: KFIG AM 940