On June 7, USC baseball left the Super Regionals just an inning away from earning a spot in the College World Series, marking the end of the squad’s most promising season in over two decades. While the loss was painful, the Trojans flew back to Dedeaux Field with an exciting future ahead of them.

However, not every member of this season’s team will be part of that immediate future. Twelve members of USC’s squad have already entered the transfer portal, which opened June 1 and will close June 30.

As the Trojans look to make it to Omaha next season for the first time in over 20 years, the question right now remains who will and who won’t be wearing the cardinal and gold in 2027.

Augie Lopez headlines offensive departures

Not since 2010 had a Trojan hit as many home runs in a season as sophomore designated hitter and catcher Augie Lopez in a breakout 2026 campaign, notching 19 on the year. Lopez was top-five in nearly every hitting statistic and maintained a constant presence in the lineup. His departure on June 11 naturally shocked the Trojan faithful, especially considering Lopez had recently been awarded the Most Outstanding Player award for the College Station Regional.

Lopez is one of three Trojan catchers to enter the portal. Junior backstop Richard Tejeda likely won’t return, despite being USC’s main catcher for much of 2025. This season, junior catcher Isaac Cadena secured the job late in the season, with Tejeda starting just two games after April 24. 

Maybe the most significant defensive departure was sophomore infielder Maddox Riske, who entered the portal on Monday, according to D1Baseball. Riske started 42 of the Trojans’ first 48 games before eventually losing his lineup spot, and saw only five at-bats in the NCAA Tournament. Riske was an effective defender, with the third-highest defensive runs saved on the team, but lagged offensively, recording the lowest batting average and OPS of all qualified USC hitters. 

Freshman catcher Jarett Sabol and freshman outfielder Nolan Eberwein also announced Monday on X that they would enter the portal. They both preserve their redshirt status, since neither played in a game this season. 

The two hitters USC has picked up in the portal so far — graduate outfielder Ethan Hott and graduate infielder Brandon Larson, both of whom arrive from Stanford — have shown great bat-to-ball skills despite lacking power.

Pitching departs for MLB Draft, new schools

While the Trojans stepped up their hitting in the playoffs, it was their pitching, specifically junior starter Mason Edwards and sophomore starter Grant Govel, that established and kept them as an NCAA-wide contender. Both were named All-Americans, with Edwards earning Baseball America’s Pitcher of the Year award after throwing the most strikeouts in the country with a 2.07 ERA.  

The pair of aces were selected to attend this week’s MLB Draft Combine, where all 30 MLB teams will scout and evaluate their abilities. MLB Pipeline recently projected Edwards as a late first-rounder, while Govel could be selected during the middle rounds or return to USC for his junior season.

Outside of them, freshman pitchers Gavin Lauridsen and Diego Velazquez — the latter of whom moonlighted as an infielder — are the most prominent Trojan pitchers to enter the portal. Lauridsen and Velazquez pitched the fifth- and eighth-most innings on the team, respectively; though neither finished with an ERA under four, they provided a promising look into the future of USC pitching.

The rest of the Trojans’ exodus was made up of pitchers who played occasionally. Sophomore Ben Cushnie and redshirt sophomore Garren Rizzo, the latter of whom has already committed to San Diego State University, both announced they were entering the portal last Thursday. They combined for just 89 innings during their time at USC, yet both still proved valuable options in the bullpen. 

Freshman Jake Sekany, redshirt sophomore Matthew Morrell and redshirt junior Michael Ebner all entered the portal after seeing little action in 2026. Sekany and Morrell both pitched just 2/3 of an inning this season, and Ebner missed the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in 2025 after pitching just 10.1 innings.

To combat the mass pitching departures, USC has already signed two pitchers: senior Tyler Gebb of Long Beach State University and redshirt junior Oliver Boone from Kentucky. Gebb has thrown over 120 career innings, with his best year coming this past season, when he ended with a 3.44 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 34 innings. 

Boone, in comparison, has thrown just over 40 career innings, missing the entire 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery. This past season, he managed an ERA over six across just 10 1/3 innings. 

Both will have the chance to recover and improve under new pitching coach Keith Zuniga, who helped lead Hawai’i to the third-best team ERA in the country last year.

With just under one week remaining before the transfer portal closes, USC will look to round out its squad in an attempt to make it back to the College World Series.