Baseball came into this weekend’s meeting with the Iowa Hawkeyes (18-15, 5-10 Big Ten) spiraling on the back of four straight losses, three at the hands of crosstown rival No. 1 UCLA (33-2, 18-0). 

The No. 12 Trojans (30-7, 13-5) responded with a balanced attack on both sides of the ball all series long, clinching a series sweep with Sunday’s win and moving to an impressive 22-1 at home — highest in the Big Ten — becoming just the second Big Ten team to surpass 30 wins in 2026.

“It was a good bounce-back weekend,” Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz said in a postgame interview Sunday. “We need our guys to understand that every day we play, every game that we suit up for is important.”

USC dominated with consistent pitching and a balanced attack on offense, scoring six or more runs in each game while surrendering three runs or less. The team outscored Iowa by 16 total runs across the three games.

Offense spreads the wealth behind dominant Edwards showing

It is no secret USC has received a dominant performance this year from junior starting pitcher Mason Edwards, and Friday was no different. 

Edwards breezed through the first eight innings, allowing just one hit and no runs, striking out a whopping 16 Hawkeye batters. After running into slight trouble with a pair of singles and a walk in the ninth, Edwards was pulled from the game and finished with an outstanding stat line of two earned runs across 8.1 innings pitched and 16 strikeouts, both career highs. His 95 strikeouts across nine starts on the season rank first nationally.

“The guy who takes the ball as a starter is so huge, and [Edwards] stepped up in a big way to get us to take a breath [and] get back to playing good baseball that we’ve been playing for the whole season,” Stankiewicz said.

The bats did not fall far behind Edwards in game one. Six players drove in at least one RBI en route to the 9-2 victory. Junior outfielder Andrew Lamb led the way as the lone Trojan to drive in multiple runs, getting the scoring started with an RBI double in the second inning and a sacrifice fly in the third inning.

Fourth-inning rally propels Trojans to victory

Game two featured arguably the closest battle in the series, as they were within two runs up until the eighth inning. However, USC’s four-run fourth inning, led by three home runs, powered a 6-3 victory. Redshirt junior closer Adam Troy shut the door in the ninth for his 10th save on the season, second in the NCAA.

The inning began with a solo home run to right field off the bat of sophomore catcher Augie Lopez, who has been on a power surge. Lopez would add a home run in game three, totaling seven across his last 10 games. 

With one out in the inning, Lamb tacked on a solo home run of his own to right field. And after a double down the line by senior outfielder Jack Basseer, junior catcher Isaac Cadena crushed a two-run home run to extend the USC lead to four.

The Hawkeyes offense would follow up the Trojans’ big inning with power of their own, as Iowa senior infielder Gable Mitchell launched a two-run home run against USC’s sophomore pitcher Grant Govel. The fifth inning would be Govel’s final inning of work, departing as the game’s winning pitcher, having allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks with a strong eight strikeouts. 

Early game slugging helps secure sweep

The Trojans kept their foot on the gas in game three, routing the Hawkeyes 8-2. Sophomore starting pitcher Andrew Johnson surrendered a leadoff home run but did not allow another run.

“You come out here and you win the series yesterday, and sometimes you can get relaxed a little bit,” Stankiewicz said. “It was good to see the guys respond well today and throughout the weekend.” 

After he allowed a leadoff solo home run to senior infielder Kooper Schulte, Johnson did not allow another run over the remaining five innings, lowering his ERA to 3.66 while picking up his third win of the season.

Down 1-0 entering the bottom of the first inning, USC flashed its power potential with a quick pair of home runs, including a three-run shot by Lopez and a two-run shot by Cadena. The offensive parade did not stop there: In the second inning, sophomore infielder Maddox Riske crushed his first home run of the season to left field. Riske would also add a single in the sixth inning for a multi-hit game.

“Maddox Riske [has] been playing great defense, and he has not been swinging the bat as well as he wants to, but he got a home run and a knock [today],” said Stankiewicz. “I am just encouraged by that, and I’m happy for him because he has put a lot of extra work in to try to get his new swing going.”

Junior outfielder Kevin Takeuchi also had a big night at the plate, adding two RBI singles in the second and sixth innings.

After an off-day on Monday, USC will look to continue its three-game win streak on the road against Long Beach State (11-23, 6-12 Big West Conference) on Tuesday night, with first pitch set for 6 p.m.