Trojan baseball is on a historic run to start the 2026 season. 

Coming off a back-and-forth victory against UC Irvine (9-8, 1-2 Big West), No. 25 USC (16-0, 3-0 Big Ten) was only three games away from tying its best start in program history: a 15-0 record set by the 1988 squad. Over the weekend, a sweep over Big Ten opponent Illinois (8-7, 0-3) matched that record, keeping the Trojans undefeated.

They followed it up Tuesday night with a 6-1 win over Long Beach State University (4-12, 0-3 Big West) to improve to 16-0 — the best start in the 138-year history of USC baseball.

“Keeping it one game at a time, you can’t go 16-0 unless you go 15-0,” junior pitcher Sax Matson said in a postgame interview Saturday. “Just stringing together a couple hits, doing the little things right and then we’ll find ourselves in a good spot at the end of the day.” 

Edwards’ gem sets tone for series

Friday’s Big Ten opener once again showcased the dominance of the USC pitching staff — and particularly, junior pitcher Mason Edwards. 

Edwards’ performance earned him Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors for the second week in a row. He tallied 11 strikeouts for the third consecutive game while allowing no runs in six innings during the 4-0 victory over the Fighting Illini. The shutout extended his scoreless streak to start the season to 24 innings, having accumulated 42 strikeouts while only allowing three hits in that span.

“I’ve had to rely on my curveball,” Edwards said in a postgame interview. “I would say the off-speed has been working very well this early season.” 

Edwards’ start came with some hiccups, though. A bases-loaded, no-out jam came in the fourth inning as a result of back-to-back singles and a fielder’s choice. However, Edwards retired the next three Illini he faced, escaping the predicament unscathed. 

The offense was able to do enough to secure the win, as junior infielder Adrian Lopez picked up three hits in the contest — tied for his most in a game this season — along with his first home run of the year. Lopez hit a two-run shot to left field in the first inning to open the scoring. 

“[Lopez] did a good job in his first at-bat, and stayed inside of the baseball,” Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz said in a postgame interview. “He’s a big, strong young man, so [he] just got to work inside it. The ball will pull itself, and I think he saw that tonight.”

Deja vu in Saturday shutout

A familiar story transpired in Saturday’s matchup against the Fighting Illini: another low-scoring, pitching-dominated 4-0 shutout victory for the Trojans.

Junior catcher Isaac Cadena took advantage of a bases-loaded opportunity in the first inning, plating two runs and giving USC the early lead with a single. The Trojan offense continued the trend of scoring early, then going quiet, until a dropped fly ball in the sixth inning brought two more Trojans home to extend their lead to four. 

“Last night, we scored early, didn’t do much and then kind of got caught in the same pattern today from an offensive standpoint,” Stankiewicz said following Saturday’s game. “[We have] to have good at-bats, quality at-bats and use the middle.” 

On the mound, sophomore pitcher Grant Govel continued his commanding start to the 2026 season. Govel allowed six hits and only picked up two strikeouts, both season-low marks, while pitching seven innings. Though his counting stats didn’t look the prettiest, Govel still allowed zero runs, earning his fourth win of the season and setting up Matson to clinch the series for USC. 

Matson allowed just one baserunner in two innings, striking out four of the seven Illini hitters he faced, continuing to establish himself as one of the Trojans’ most reliable bullpen arms. 

“Just go fill it up, everything we worked on in the week leading up [from] practice. Just go do what I worked on all week and keep it simple,” Matson said about his approach.

USC takes Sunday matinee to finish sweep

With Sunday’s 11 a.m. start being the earliest of the year for the Trojans — not to mention losing an hour of sleep due to daylight saving time — it was no surprise that USC started slow in the final game of the series. 

Sophomore pitcher Andrew Johnson went only 3.2 innings on the bump, giving up two runs in the first inning and putting the Trojans in an early hole. Johnson allowed eight baserunners and reached 76 pitches before the fourth inning, marking an uncharacteristically poor start for him.

“I don’t think he was as sharp as typically he is. He was missing up a little bit. Maybe that’s just [him] trying to overthrow a little bit,” Stankiewicz said in a postgame interview. 

However, USC’s bats started to pick up in the series finale, as performances from senior outfielder Jack Basseer and junior infielder Dean Carpentier lifted the Trojans out of the early deficit to a 5-3 comeback victory.

Basseer and Carpentier each collected two RBIs, with Basseer hitting his team-leading fourth home run of the season, a solo shot in the second inning to get USC on the board. Carpentier’s two RBIs came from a single up the middle that gave the Trojans the lead in the fourth inning — one they would not relinquish, keeping their record on the season perfect. 

Following the sweep of Illinois, USC beat Long Beach State on Tuesday for its 16th victory, the most consecutive wins to start a season in team history. 

The Trojans will face the University of San Diego (7-8) on Wednesday before leaving California for the first time this season to battle Northwestern (6-7-1) in a three-game series.