Three-game series for USC on the diamond


By
 in ,

The baseball team looks forward to its second three-game series of the season this weekend as the team prepares to welcome Wake Forest to Dedeaux Field. After losing their first two games against North Dakota last week, the Trojans rebounded with a walk-off win in the series’ final game to prevent a sweep, and they survived a late scare to beat Loyola Marymount, 4-3, on Tuesday. USC then played South Korean professional team the NC Dinos Wednesday night, losing 5-0 after shuffling up the lineup for the exhibition game.

Although the team has gotten off to a more sluggish start than anticipated at the start of the season, head coach Dan Hubbs said it was better to work out the kinks earlier in the year.

“I’d rather be 4-0, don’t get me wrong, but I think we’ll be better for it in the long run,” Hubbs said. “We’ve had to deal with some adversity, and we’ve overcome it. Now we just have to continue to play well.”

The Trojans will return to competitive baseball against the Demon Deacons on Friday after their midweek exhibition, but senior outfielder Timmy Robinson said the squad’s attitude is the same regardless of opposition or circumstance.

“We just need to go out there and play our game, so it doesn’t matter whether we’re playing an exhibition game or the No. 1 team in the country,” Robinson said. “We’ll approach this weekend just like we approached the game [against the NC Dinos] … and hopefully the outcome will be different.”

Robinson may finally see a return to the field this weekend after opening the season nursing an injury to his arm and filling the DH spot in the Trojans’ lineup. The Huntington Beach native crushed his first home run of the season on Tuesday, which proved to be the difference in the win against LMU.

Wake Forest comes to Los Angeles sporting a perfect 4-0 record. The Demon Deacons finished the 2015 season with a 27-26 overall record and failed to make the ACC Tournament, but this year, they are unbeaten after home victories over four different teams. They will fly cross-country for their first road games of the season against USC. There is not much familiarity between the two programs, as the Trojans have not faced off against Wake Forest since Rod Dedeaux sat in the dugout as their head coach in the 1949 College World Series.

Hubbs said the key to a strong weekend series and beyond is making sure they play with composure on the field. He pointed to sophomore third baseman Angelo Armenta’s attempt to cut down a runner at home in Wednesday’s exhibition, which led to a 4-run NC inning after the throw arrived too late to the plate.

“We just have to shore up a couple of those kinds of things: that we’re making the right decision and making the right play,” Hubbs said. “If we do that, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

The first game of the series between the Trojans and the Demon Deacons begins at 6 p.m. on Friday at Dedeaux Field. Saturday’s game begins at 2 p.m., and USC will wrap up the three-game set on Sunday at 1 p.m.