STANFORD, Calif. – Despite another brillant outing from freshman Tristan Beck, Stanford baseball fell in the series opener, 1-0, with Pac-12 rival USC on Friday night at Sunken Diamond.

Beck allowed just one run and three hits in 7.1 innings, and struck out eight. But the Cardinal managed just three hits on the night.

"I thought Tristan pitched really well and gave us a chance to win," head coach Mark Marquess said. "We just couldn't do much with their pitching. I'm really happy with Tristan -- but we couldn't do anything with their pitcher."

USC scored the game's only run in the top of the sixth. The leadoff man was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a bunt, and then scored on a single up the middle. 

Freshman Duke Kinamon had two of Stanford's three hits. He singled through the right side to put runners at the corners in the second inning, and singled in the fourth to put runners at first and second. There were two outs on both occasions, and the Cardinal could not get one across.

Sophomore Matt Winaker tripled with two outs in the sixth, but was one of seven runners left on for the Cardinal.

Tyler Thorne, Kris Bubic and Colton Hock combined for the last eight outs and kept Stanford within one, but the Cardinal dropped the opener for the second straight weekend. Last week, against Washington State, Stanford won the final two games to take the series.

NOTABLES: Beck has allowed a combined three earned runs in his last four starts (1.01 ERA) -- in that span (26.2 innings), he has struck out 29, and allowed just 18 hits and six walks ... Stanford has been shut out one other time this year (9-0 at No. 23 Texas), and came back to win, 11-1, the following day.

NEXT UP: The middle game of this three-game set against Pac-12 rival USC is Saturday at 1 p.m. Pac-12 Network will broadcast nationally from Sunken Diamond. Sunday's game can also be seen on Pac-12 Network at 4 p.m.

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