Baseball commands home win over Long Beach


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Freshman pitcher Chandler Champlain throws on the mound against UCLA March 10 at Dodger Stadium. (Tucker Judkins/Daily Trojan)

The Trojans defeated Long Beach State 5-2 at Dedeaux Field Tuesday night. The Trojans, who hold a 7-11 record, were looking to build off of a strong series at Cal over the weekend, while the Dirtbags, who are 3-15, hoped to recover after losing their last series to Minnesota.

The bats got going early into the first inning when LBSU junior infielder Riki Desa put the Dirtbags on the board with a leadoff home run to left field. But the Trojans didn’t blink. Junior catcher Blake Sabol returned the favor in the bottom of the first with a leadoff triple to centerfield. Senior infielder Chase Bushor later brought Sabol home after hitting a grounder, tying the game 1-1.

Things quieted down for both teams during the second and third frame. USC freshman pitcher Chandler Champlain tossed a scoreless second inning while junior pitcher Gus Culpo threw two strikeouts in the third, rounding out the top of the inning for the Trojans.

At the start of the fourth inning, the game was tied 1-1, and the Trojans started to heat up. With one out left, USC rallied with a single by redshirt junior pitcher CJ Stubbs and a double down the right field line by sophomore infielder Ben Ramirez. A single to center field by freshman catcher Tyler Lozano would cement the two out rally and push Stubbs and Ramirez home to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead as they entered the fifth inning.

“That was a big confidence booster for us,” Lozano said. “With two outs, getting a big hit helps a team a lot going into the next inning.”

USC picked up its momentum into the fifth inning. Freshman pitcher Calvin Schapira retired three Dirtbags to wrap up the first half of the 1-2-3 inning. In the bottom of the frame, an RBI single to left by Ramirez pushed sophomore infielder Jamal O’Guinn past home to extend the Trojan’s lead to 3.

Down 4-1 entering the sixth inning, the Dirtbags looked to get things going offensively after four scoreless innings. LBSU responded with a two-out RBI double to center by sophomore first baseman Jacob Hughey to cut the Dirtbag deficit to 2. USC wouldn’t find a run during the second half of the frame.

The USC bullpen continued its success in the eighth inning with Lambert retiring three Dirtbags. At the bottom of the frame, Lozano tallied his third hit of the night with a single to center field. Sabol followed up by lining up a sinker down the middle to score Lozano and make the game 5-2 Trojans.

USC held onto its lead in the ninth, and the Trojans went on to win the ball game 5-2.

Coming off the win, USC now sets its sights on a three-game series against Washington. The Huskies hold an overall record of 11-5 and 3-0 at home. A series sweep by USC would place the Trojans at 11-11 and .500 on the season.

Heading into the series, USC head baseball coach Dan Hubbs is looking to improve on the team’s scoring efficiency.

“I think we left quite a few guys on base today,” Hubbs said. “I think that could have been an 8-9-10 run game and it wasn’t. I’m excited about the pitching. I thought we played good defense. Against Washington we’re going to have to punch some of those runs across when we have them there if we expect to beat them.”

First pitch is at Husky Ballpark in Seattle on March 22 at 6:05 p.m.