Trojans take on Long Beach State in first road game


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The Trojans would be expected to enter the season’s first away game against the Long Beach State Dirtbags at Blair Field with confidence, given their 5-3 victory last Sunday over North Dakota State thanks to the walk-off home run in the 12th inning by junior Omar Cotto Lozada.

This assumed confidence, however, could be checked by the Trojans’ less-than-stellar away game record of 9-19 from the 2012-2013 season, though one of those victories was over the Dirtbags on Feb. 26, 2013.
So far USC boasts an undefeated record of 7-0 for the 2014 season under second-year head coach, Dan Hubbs. This marks much improvement from the 4-3 record the Trojans held at this time in 2013, signaling progress in the cohesiveness and experience of this young team.

The Dirtbags have gotten off to a rocky start this season, currently holding a 2-5 overall record and a 2-3 home record. The Dirtbags hold the advantage in experience, though, with 23 returning players under fourth-year coach Troy Buckley.
The last time these two teams met, the Trojans rose victorious over the Dirtbags in a 4-1 victory at USC’s Dedeaux Field. Long Beach State held close to the Trojans through seven innings but allowed USC to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, leading to a Trojan victory.

So far this season the Trojans haven’t always been able to turn hits into runs. Last Sunday, the Trojans couldn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities such as three leadoff singles, stranding six runners.

USC remained scoreless through the first seven innings against the Bison until senior third basemen Kevin Swick ripped a single up the middle, allowing for sophomore infielder AJ Ramirez to run home from second base.

The Trojans hope to make a much more impressive offensive showing tonight against the Dirtbags’ pitching staff, who have struggled to consistently make outs this season. So far, Long Beach State pitchers have a total 4.13 ERA.

USC will hope to take advantage of this less-than-impressive statistic by consistently getting men on base in scoring position. This seems to be fairly probable, given the continuing improvements in the Trojans’ overall batting average, which currently is .303.

This impressive number can be attributed to each of the nine starters with special thanks to senior catcher Jake Hernandez and Ramirez, who both currently hold a batting average over .400.

The Trojans must face only the Dirtbags before heading back to Dedeaux Field to battle the Cal Poly Mustangs in a three game series, hoping continuing their home game success.

USC will take the field against Long Beach State tonight at Blair Field at 6 p.m.