On May 14, 2023, USC completed a three-game sweep of Arizona State in its final homestand of the season. That would be the last game the Trojans played in their home stadium for a long time: Dedeaux Field underwent a major renovation over the following two seasons, forcing USC to play most of its home games at Great Park in Irvine.

On Friday, nearly three years later, the Trojans stepped onto the new-and-improved Dedeaux Field grass to open the 2026 season — and they didn’t miss a beat.

Propelled by dominant starting pitching, USC (3-0) swept Pepperdine University (0-3) in three games over the weekend, outscoring the Waves 22-6 across the series. The Trojans’ starters — junior Mason Edwards, sophomore Grant Govel and sophomore Andrew Johnson — combined for 16 scoreless innings in front of a boisterous home crowd.

“For two years, we haven’t had a home. … The guys are excited about having their own ballpark,” Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz said in a postgame media interview Friday. “We got a long way to go, but [it’s] certainly a good start.”

Edwards wins pitchers’ duel in season opener

It only took four batters for USC to score its first runs at the new Dedeaux Field. After junior infielders Abbrie Covarrubias and Adrian Lopez each walked in the first inning, sophomore catcher Augie Lopez drove them both in with a double, giving the Trojans an early 2-0 lead.

However, the rest of the game would be a more pitching-heavy affair, as both starters settled in to shut down the opposing offenses. Edwards gave up one hit over five shutout innings, racking up a career-high nine strikeouts, while Pepperdine graduate pitcher Tommy Scavone allowed just two hits in five frames despite a shaky first inning.

After the Waves began to threaten in the eighth, Stankiewicz brought in redshirt junior pitcher Adam Troy, who projects as USC’s closer this season after two-way star Ethan Hedges was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. Troy promptly shut down Pepperdine’s offense for the final two innings, sealing a 3-1 victory for the Trojans in their first true home game in 33 months.

“That’s our closer right there. He’s incredible,” Augie Lopez said of Troy in a postgame media interview. “He’s gonna be lights-out all year for us.”

Trojans dominate in combined no-hitter, run rule victory

While Friday featured stellar pitching but lackluster offense, Saturday’s matchup saw USC dominate on both sides of the ball: Govel and freshman pitcher Cameron Fausset combined for a no-hitter — the Trojans’ first since 2018 — in a run-rule win that was called once USC took an 11-0 lead in the seventh inning.

After mainly pitching in relief last season, Govel put on a show in his fifth career start, throwing six hitless innings while punching out a career-high 10 batters; he was later named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for his performance. Fausset came in for his first collegiate appearance in the seventh, where he walked two batters but managed to keep the Waves scoreless — and hitless.

“It gives [the rest of the team] confidence,” Stankiewicz said of the pitching staff’s performance in a postgame media interview Sunday. “It was a good start for our starting pitchers this weekend.”

On the offensive side, the Trojans’ lineup was dialed in from top to bottom, with seven different players recording a hit and four notching RBIs. Junior outfielder Kevin Takeuchi led the squad with a 3-for-4, four-RBI night, while junior infielder Dean Carpentier hammered USC’s first home run of the season in the fifth inning.

The game’s final hero ended up being junior outfielder Andrew Lamb, whose seventh-inning two-run homer pushed the Trojans’ lead to 11-0 — past the 10-run threshold needed for a run-rule victory — to secure the no-hitter for Govel and Fausset.

USC holds on late to clinch sweep

For the first six innings of Sunday’s series finale, the script appeared to be unchanged from the previous day. Johnson became the third USC pitcher in as many games to toss five shutout innings, giving up just two hits along the way; meanwhile, the offense steadily built up a 7-0 lead thanks to two-RBI performances from Covarrubias, Takeuchi and junior catcher Isaac Cadena, with the latter picking up his first hit as a Trojan after transferring from TCU in the offseason.

However, the wheels came off in the seventh inning: Pepperdine scored four runs off of junior pitcher Sax Matson, who gave up four straight baserunners to start the frame before getting pulled, and the Waves tacked on another run in the eighth to pull within two.

Fortunately for USC, senior outfielder Jack Basseer provided some much-needed insurance with a solo shot in the eighth inning, setting the stage for Troy to record his second save of the weekend. Troy delivered, striking out the side in the ninth to send his former squad packing with an 8-5 defeat.

Though the Trojans were able to salvage the victory, Stankiewicz said they needed to “be better” in the future, stressing the importance of staying vigilant on defense after gaining a lead.

“We want to win late innings. We don’t want to lose late innings,” Stankiewicz said. “They beat us late today.”

Nevertheless, Stankiewicz’s squad is off to a hot start after its second season-opening sweep in as many years — momentum USC needs to maintain as it hopes to keep rising back to the top of the collegiate baseball world.

The Trojans will continue to break in their new stadium as they host Loyola Marymount University (1-2) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.