USC triumphs UCLA in weekend set
USC defeated then-No. 22 UCLA 6-5 this past Sunday at Dedeaux Field in walk-off fashion, winning the annual three-game series between the crosstown rivals in the process.
The series victory pushes the Trojans to 24-14-1 on the year. Their Pac-12 record now stands at 11-7 with 12 conference games remaining in the regular season.
The series kicked off Friday night with USC junior starting pitcher Tyler Stromsborg matched up against UCLA junior right-hander Jake Brooks. Stromberg struggled early, plunking leadoff batter Daylen Reyes and surrendering a double that drove in Reyes later in the inning.
While the Trojans stormed back with a run of their own in the bottom of the first, the Bruins opened the floodgates with a four-run second inning and never looked back. UCLA went on to win the opening match of the series 9-3.
On Saturday night, the Trojans turned to sophomore starting pitcher Caden Aoki to give USC an opportunity to even the series. Aoki did just that, posting 6.1 innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. Aoki’s only blemish came in the top of the fourth, when UCLA sophomore first baseman Jack Holman socked a solo homer over the right field fence, one of only four hits surrendered by Aoki on the day.
Holman’s blast served as the game’s only run until the sixth inning, when junior left fielder Carson Wells scored freshman center fielder Austin Overn with a double to left, knotting the score at 1-1. The next batter — senior third baseman Johnny Olmstead — jumped all over a pitch from Bruin starting pitcher Alonzo Tredwell, sending it over the left field wall and giving the Trojans their first lead of the series.
Junior infielder Ryan Jackson tacked on two more runs with a single through the left side. The sixth inning, and the game, ended with USC up 5-1.
With the series tied heading into Sunday, USC looked to senior pitcher Blake Sodersten to secure the first series victory over UCLA at Dedeaux Field since 2005. Similarly, UCLA turned to sophomore southpaw and 2022 Freshman All-American Ethan Flanagan.
The Trojans took an early lead thanks to a second-inning nuke off the bat of Olmstead, his seventh of the year and second of the weekend. Freshman first baseman Ethan Hedges added a homer of his own later in the inning. The Trojans took a 3-0 lead in the third on a double from redshirt freshman second baseman — and former Bruin — Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek, scoring Jackson.
Sodersten twirled a gem, matching a season high with five shutout frames and yielding only two hits. However, Sodersten struggled with his control at times, walking three and plunking two. The Bruins packed the bags full in the top of the fifth, but the righty was able to escape the inning and outing unscathed.
“I thought it was good, but I think [Sodersten] would tell you that he should be better,” said Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz. “But he competed well and gave us five strong.”
Sophomore pitcher Fisher Johnson took over for Sodersten in the sixth and surrendered a run, cutting the lead to two. Johnson allowed back-to-back singles to open the seventh before departing to make way for sophomore Josh Blum. Blum walked the only batter he saw before getting yanked in favor of redshirt junior Kyle Wisch.
Wisch quickly surrendered an infield single to make the score 3-2. In a duel of Kyles against UCLA’s junior infielder Kyle Karros, the Bruin came out on top with a bases-clearing double into the left-field corner. The Bruins did not hold onto the lead for long, however, as the Trojans stormed back in the bottom of the frame on a sac fly from Martin-Grudzielanek and a game-tying bloop single from Wells.
Redshirt senior pitcher Garrett Clarke took over in the eighth and, despite some trouble early on, shut out the Bruins the rest of the way. Stankiewicz made note of the bullpen’s shortcomings Sunday night, but also their ability to deliver when needed.
“Our bullpen wasn’t as good as it should have been,” Stankiewicz said. “Credit to Wisch for coming in and getting some big fishes, and obviously Garrett Clarke for keeping us in this ball game.”
In the top of the ninth with a runner on second, Jackson — from the shortstop position — dove to his right to stop a sharp ground ball from reaching the outfield and giving the lead back to UCLA. The game remained tied heading into the bottom of the inning, with Jackson following his defensive heroics by smoking a leadoff single into right center.
UCLA freshman reliever Cody Delvecchio had only allowed two earned runs across 32.2 innings heading into Sunday night’s game. However, in his third inning of work, Delvecchio managed to find himself stuck with the bases loaded and two outs against senior outfielder Cole Gabrielson.
On a 2-2 pitch, Delvecchio delivered a fastball onto the outside corner. Gabrielson swung, lashing the ball to deep right field, where junior JonJon Vaughns was playing shallow. When the baseball found its rightful spot on the warning track dirt, Delvecchio found himself saddled with his third career earned run, and the Trojans with a series-winning walk-off, besting the Bruins 6-5.
“I obviously wasn’t looking for too much to do with it, just needed a base hit,” Gabrielson said. “I was seeing it well, got my hacks off and just wanted to get a good pitch so I could drive it, put a good swing on it and get the job done for the boys.”
Gabrielson commented on the team’s resilience and ability to capture the series, despite falling by six runs in the first game of the three-game set.
“Friday we got kicked around a bit, but I feel like we found our identity on Saturday and were able to put it in play,” Gabrielson said. “We came together as a team on Saturday and knew if we walked away with a win yesterday, we were going to put ourselves in a good position to walk away with a win today.”
USC will face off against UCSD Tuesday at 6:30 p.m at Dedeaux Field.