The USC baseball team has gathered momentum in its new conference home with three straight series wins, and it hopes to extend the streak to four against Ohio State.

“We can’t give the opponent more opportunities to score runs,” said Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I think we can get a little bit sloppy. Not lately, I think we’ve been better.”

While there is not much history between the two teams, the Trojans (17-11, 6-6 Big Ten) can set the tone and take the first series in school history against the Buckeyes (8-17, 2-7 Big Ten). Last season, during their first meeting on the baseball field, USC fell 5-2.

This season, USC sits in the middle of the Big Ten standings, four games behind Iowa (18-9, 10-2 Big Ten) and UCLA (23-5, 10-2 Big Ten), who are tied for first place. Ohio State is toiling at the bottom, 6.5 games out of first.

The Trojans are heading into the series on a two-game win streak. Most recently, they fought past San Diego State University (9-20, 5-4 Mountain West), taking a 9-6 victory. In their most recent series, USC captured a 2-1 series win against Indiana (15-14, 6-6 Big Ten).

A fighting spirit has been strong with the Trojans this season. The final game of the Indiana series came down to the wire despite USC’s 9-run deficit going into the sixth inning. Sophomore outfielder Brayden Dowd put the cherry on top of the Trojans’ largest comeback since 2003 with a 2-run shot over the right field wall in the top of the ninth inning. USC closed the game defensively in the bottom of the ninth inning and won 13-12.

“Experience is a great teacher,” Stankiewicz said. “We’ve had a couple of games where it’s been the opposite … you have to fight for nine innings, not just two or three.”

Meanwhile, Ohio State is coming off a 9-6 loss against West Virginia (24-4, 4-3 Big 12). Although their record may not reflect it thus far, the Buckeyes can pull off major victories. They won two games and only lost one in their most recent series against powerhouse No. 15 Oregon (20-8, 8-4 Big Ten).

The X-factor of their success against Oregon was senior infielder Tyler Pettorini, who had 4 RBIs in the Buckeyes’ two wins following their initial shutout loss. Pettorini leads the team with a .359 batting average, 37 hits and seven home runs.

Although he only had two at-bats against Oregon, senior outfielder Nick Giamarusti has proven to be Ohio State’s best baserunner with a 0.92 stolen bases per attempt ratio. If he can get on base, he could prove to be a problem for the Trojans.

Still, the Trojans have the upper hand at the plate and on the mound. Junior infielder and pitcher Ethan Hedges is a two-way weapon, leading the team with a .413 batting average at the plate while also recording seven saves on the mound. He also leads the team in hits with 45, home runs with 10 and RBIs with 35.

“It’s not very often that you have a guy that can do the two-way thing,” Stankiewicz said. “It’s kind of fun to watch a young man develop his skillset to where he’s being recognized as one of the better players in the country.”

Out of USC’s starting rotation, junior left-handed pitcher Caden Hunter has been the most reliable with a 3.46 ERA and five wins in seven starts. He also has the most strikeouts out of all Trojan pitchers with 43.

This week, Stankiewicz was named manager of the 2025 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. He will lead Team USA’s charge into this summer’s 45th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Series. Stankiewicz will be the third USC manager to represent USC baseball with the USA national team, joining USC Hall of Famers managers Rod Dedeaux and Mike Gillespie.

“A standard was built by Coach Dedeaux and Coach Gillespie and we want to get back to that,” Stankiewicz said. “The goal is to play great baseball and bring a great sense of pride back to the University of Southern California baseball program.”

USC looks to open the series against Ohio State with a win at Irvine’s Great Park Friday at 6:30 p.m. They’ll continue into the weekend at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.