USC hits the road to take on Oregon State
The USC baseball team will continue its quest for a Pac-12 title this weekend when it travels to Oregon State to face the Beavers.
The Trojans (29-10, 10-5 Pac-12) will be well-rested going into the series, as they did not have a game on Tuesday after facing the Oregon Ducks last weekend.
Though the Ducks gave USC some trouble, the Trojans were able to win the series in convincing fashion.
On Friday, starting pitcher Brent Wheatley put the team in an early hole, allowing four runs in the first inning.
USC responded quickly, however, by putting up three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame.
Wheatley settled down after his rough first inning and did not allow another run until he was pulled with two outs in the top of the fourth.
The Trojan offense exploded in the bottom of the fourth, forcing a bases-loaded walk to tie the game.
With the game tied at four runs apiece, junior Timmy Robinson put the Trojans ahead for good with his first collegiate grand slam.
The Ducks went on to score one more run, but the Trojans tacked on five more of their own and won the contest 13-5.
Saturday did not go quite so well for the Trojans, however, as they were unable to climb out of another early deficit.
After only two innings, USC was down 7-0 as starter Kyle Twomey and the defense behind him were uncharacteristically shaky.
Before the Trojans could even get on the board, the Ducks added two more runs to lead 9-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
By then, the game was in hand for Oregon, and the Ducks went on to tie the series with a 15-4 victory.
But USC would not let Oregon leave Los Angeles with a series victory, as starter Mitch Hart dominated the Ducks in the rubber match of the weekend series.
The freshman pitcher hurled six innings and gave up only one run.
Oregon got ahead early yet again, as Jakob Goldfarb jumped on Hart’s first pitch of the ball game, sending it over the outfield fence for a lead-off home run. Hart settled in nicely, however, striking out eight over the next six innings.
The Trojans backed Hart with four runs in the first four innings, providing more than enough support for the young right-hander.
After Hart left the game, though, reliever Marc Huberman gave up two runs in the top of the seventh to bring the Ducks within striking distance, 4-3. But USC responded quickly, adding two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth to put the game out of reach for the Ducks.
Head coach Dan Hubbs said the series was a testament to his team’s ability to overcome adversity.
“We know every team in our league is good and every game is going to be a dogfight,” Hubbs said.
“We’ve shown the ability to win a game 2-0, and we’ve shown the ability to win a game 10-8. Whatever we have to do to win the game that day is what we have to do, and the kids have been real resilient with that. And they’ve been relentless at trying to win every game, and I don’t expect that to change.”
Looking ahead, the Trojans face yet another tough test as they travel to Corvallis, Oregon, to play the Beavers at Goss Stadium. Oregon State (25-12, 8-7 Pac-12) has struggled a bit through conference play but has dominated at home, boasting a 16-3 record there this season.
Hubbs said that the typically wet weather in Oregon is especially hard to hit in, and he attributes the Beavers’ success at home to both their ability to adapt to the cold and their strong fan support.
“They get good crowds, so it’s hard to lay an egg when you’re at home … but it’s a tougher place to hit, and they can really pitch,” Hubbs said.
“We’re going to have to have good at bats, and we’re going to have to pitch well because they always have good energy in the stadium, and it’s supposed to be a little wet this weekend, so it’ll be tougher hitting conditions,” Hubbs said. “We’ll just have to overcome it, kind of like we did in Seattle. I’m confident if we do what we’re capable of doing, we’ll find ways to win ballgames.”
The Beavers have had a rough stretch of late — losing five of their last nine games -— but they are coming off a series win against Arizona last weekend. With some momentum going into the series against the Trojans, the Beavers may have some added confidence against one of the best teams in the conference.
Hubbs said his team doesn’t worry about what other teams are doing, however, as they’re focused on playing their best every day to get this program back to being a perennial national title contender.
“We really turned a corner in the second half of last year where they really started to believe they could win, and win big. But when we didn’t make it into the tournament last year, it lit another fire under them,” Hubbs said.“They really came out this season with a sense of, ‘Hey, we’re not going to let that happen again, we’re not going to leave it up to chance, and we’ll just pound our way through’.”
Nevertheless, wins will not come easy this weekend. Oregon State has a solid offense this season, but their best player may very well be one of their pitchers, right-handed starter Andrew Moore, who has dazzled this season.
Moore has a 4-1 record with a 1.40 ERA, and he has gotten better as the season has progressed, posting an otherworldly 3-0 record with a 0.68 ERA in 40 innings of conference play. He is set to start the series opener on Friday.
Hubbs said the series might come down to the Trojans’ ability to beat the other two starters in the Beavers’ rotation, but he believes USC is still more than capable of beating Moore.
“We’re going to go out and give our best effort to beat Moore, but we have to pitch really well because if we give up a bunch of runs, we’ll lose that game,” Hubbs said.“I think winning whatever games we’re capable of winning is what we need to focus on. I don’t think we’ll focus on [the other two starters] until we get through [Moore] on Friday. From now on, every win is important, so I think we’re just going out there and focusing on that.”