Hubbs denied 100th win as USC is blown out by LMU

Head baseball coach Dan Hubbs will have to wait a little longer for his 100th collegiate win as the Trojans stumbled to an 8-0 defeat to Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.

At 11-12, the team falls below .500 after a sloppy five-hit performance in a single-game matchup against LMU.

USC batters watched helplessly from the dugout as their teammates failed to score against LMU junior pitcher Blake Redman, who pitched eight strong innings and recorded seven strikeouts.

“You have got to give credit to [Redman],” Hubbs said. “He came off of seven scoreless innings against Irvine last week and then pitched eight scoreless today, that is a pretty good two weeks. I think he is tough to see.”

Oppositely, USC starting pitcher freshman CJ Stubbs could not manage to stop the bleeding after first allowing a triple to LMU designated hitter Sean Watkins in the second inning, which gave the Lions the first lead of the contest. Watkins scored on a ground out and an error to extend the lead to 2-0, and USC gave the third run of the inning away when junior catcher Jeremy Martinez overthrew his toss in an attempt to pick off an LMU base stealer.

LMU hitters kept the pressure on Stubbs during their next opportunity, opening the third inning with a lead-off single and adding 2 more runs with a home run from junior Cassidy Brown the following at-bat to extend the lead to 5-0 and end Stubbs’ night on the mound.

The Trojans had an opportunity to jump ahead in the first inning, putting two runners in scoring position with two out, but Martinez was picked off to end the inning. Hubbs noted how LMU seized the subsequent momentum.

“It hurt us right after because CJ did not have it in the second inning,” Hubbs said. “He mislocated his pitches a couple times with two strikes and allowed a big inning. And then the next inning, he gave up two more.”

Sophomore pitcher Mason Perryman posted a strong no-run, three-inning performance, only allowing two hits. But senior Marc Huberman struggled as soon as he was put into the game in the seventh inning when he walked his first batter and eventually give up 3 runs after Brown singled to right field to score 2 runs give the Lions an 8-run lead.

Hubbs will not get his milestone, and the Trojans fall below .500. They will head to Stanford for a three-game series starting Friday.

“The thing that is disappointing is that when you are battling to win those games and trying to separate your record, it just magnifies when you have those days when you can’t do anything against the pitcher,” Hubbs said. “But I’m sure we are going to get better this weekend.”