Despite some Southern California rain, USC baseball plans to get hot this weekend with a conference-opening series win against a top 10 Oregon team.

“Everybody’s got a goal going into opening weekend of conference play to get out of the gate well and establish yourself,” said Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “Goal one is to always win the conference, whether [Pacific-12] or Big Ten. We want to be competitive in the conference, and this is the beginning.”

The Trojans (9-3) had a rough few games following their upset victory over then-No. 14 Vanderbilt (10-3). A cross-town matchup against UCLA (10-3) and a home game versus No. 16 UC Santa Barbara (10-2) set USC on a two-game losing streak after starting the season 9-1.

Part of the troubles came at the plate. The Trojans came out of the dugout swinging, getting 10 hits at UCLA and six hits off of UC Santa Barbara, but they could not seem to rally to score runs. The Trojans scored only 2 total runs in their past two games. Stankiewicz attributed the team’s apparent scoring slump to a lack of consistency in the batter’s box. 

“It’s just understanding ourselves a little bit and controlling the strike zone better,” Stankiewicz said. “If you swing at bad pitches, it’s hard to be a good hitter, so we just got to relax a little …and use the middle of the field.”

Junior infielder and pitcher Ethan Hedges has the team’s best batting average of .391 out of players who have played at least 75% of the games. However, he has only had two hits in the past three games.

Meanwhile, No. 10 Oregon (11-2) has used its big bats to overwhelm many of their opponents, averaging 12 runs per game and scoring over 10 in six separate games. 

Led by sophomore infielder Maddox Molony, who is hitting .425, the Ducks have seven players batting above .300. Senior first baseman Jacob Walsh and junior infielder Dominic Hellman lead Oregon in RBIs with 19 each. 

Many of these players can not only make contact, but they can also crush a ball. Four players have 5 or more home runs, led by junior outfielder Mason Neville’s 7 home runs. Neville also boasts an .880 slugging percentage.

“They can obviously really hit,” Stankiewicz said. “We can pitch, though … We’ve got to make sure we’re committed to our pitches, throwing the ball where we want to, and play[ing] good defense.”

USC’s pitching rotation and bullpen have kept opponents below 5 runs in seven of its 12 games. 

Senior pitcher Caden Aoki set the tone, earning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after throwing seven innings with no earned runs in the 3-1 victory over Vanderbilt. Junior left-handed pitcher Caden Hunter has also been a key contributor, maintaining an ERA of 1.80 with 20 strikeouts across three games and 15 innings.

The Trojans and the Ducks have met 43 times since 2009. USC had a record of 19-24 against Oregon at that time, gaining a bit of momentum with a two-game winning streak. In their last 10 face-offs, the two schools have been on an equal playing field with records of 5-5. 

Part of the preparation for Oregon includes a slow return to Dedeaux Field for practice, which will continue construction until the 2026 season. The new turf hosted its first practice Feb. 26, with the second practice getting rained out. Still, the team cannot wait to return to its true home.

“I’m looking forward to when we can get on this field.” Stankiewicz said. “The guys are excited about it, and the guys got a little jolt of energy when we were able to go there last Wednesday.”

USC will take on Oregon at Great Park in Irvine this weekend, beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Trojans continue the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon.