LOS ANGELES -- Starting right-hander Trevor Williams threw his third complete game of the season, but the 15th-ranked Arizona State baseball team dropped its series opener at USC 5-0 on Friday night at Dedeaux Field.
Third baseman Michael Benjamin recorded the only hit of the game for the Sun Devils (20-10-1, 6-7), as Trojans starting left-hander Sean Silva and reliever Brent Wheatley combined to retire 16 of the 26 batters they faced. ASU batters reached on a pair of fielders' choices, took three walks and were hit by four pitches.
Williams (4-3), who tossed his fifth career complete game, took the loss after allowing five runs, including four earned, on 12 hits in eight innings. He struck out one and did not walk a batter for the second time this season and eighth time in his career.
Silva (1-1) earned his first career win after six shutout innings with four strikeouts, and Wheatley (4) collected the save in three scoreless innings of relief.
Right fielder Trever Allen shined defensively, throwing out USC base runners at home with two outs in consecutive innings to keep a pair of runs off the scoreboard.
ASU loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a walk, hit batter and a fielders' choice, but Allen flew out to right field to end the game.
The Trojans (13-20, 6-7) took the lead with one run in the bottom of the second inning on a leadoff double and a pair of groundouts, then added another run in the following frame on an RBI single to right field to go ahead 2-0 after three.
USC extended its lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning, putting two more runs on the board on a pair of hits and an error.
In the seventh, Allen fielded a two-out single and then threw out the lead runner at home as catcher Max Rossiter blocked the plate to prevent a run. Allen did the same thing in the eighth inning to keep ASU's deficit at five runs after USC scored in the preceding at-bat.
The Sun Devils continue their three-game series with the Trojans on Saturday at 2 p.m.
