Trojans sweep Coppin State to kick off baseball season

USC baseball opened its season with a three-game sweep of Coppin State this weekend, as the Trojans beat the Eagles 22-2, 6-2 and 9-4. They then followed up the sweep with an extra-innings victory over Long Beach State on Tuesday.

Due to the rain on Friday, the season opener was pushed to a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Trojan bats were hot from the beginning, scoring three runs in the first inning of game one and 12 runs in the second inning. Redshirt senior left fielder David Edson hit his first collegiate home run in the third inning, a two-run shot, in addition to two singles and a double.

In game one, all the starters had at least one hit, finishing with a total of 20 at the end of the game. Coppin State pulled starting pitcher Jacob Lewis with no outs in the second inning having surrendered eight runs, four hits, three walks and a hit batter.

Trojan starter junior Mitch Hart (1-0) opened the game with five no-hit innings and finished six shutout frames in his first start of the season, giving up only one hit and striking out a
career-high nine batters. He was relieved by freshman Connor Lunn, who pitched the final three innings in his collegiate debut.

The Trojans kept mostly the same lineup for game two on Saturday, only swapping sophomore catcher Kaleb Murphy for senior catcher Cris Perez.

“I think a lot of the guys earned the opportunity [to play both games],” head coach Dan Hubbs said. “I mean, we scored 22 runs in the first game. We got them out early enough and got them rested, so it wasn’t like they played 18 innings.”

Junior Brad Wegman started the second game of the
doubleheader and went six innings, giving up only one run and striking out five.

Again, the Trojans jumped ahead early, taking a 1-0 lead in the first and building on it in the second, fourth and sixth innings to win the game 6-2. Sophomore outfielder Lars Nootbaar and Perez each had two runs batted in.

Game three began with a little less certainty than the previous two. The Trojans came to the plate down 2-0 in the first inning after a rather shaky opening frame from sophomore Marrick Crouse. 

“I thought Marrick really settled in after the first couple hitters,” Hubbs said. “Other than the solo homer [in the fourth], I don’t know if he gave up another hit. I thought he did a great job, specifically in those last five innings. He pounded the strike zone and didn’t give much opportunity to get on base.”

Crouse recorded a quality start, giving up three runs on four hits in six innings of work with three strikeouts.

Coppin State started the game off strong with two base hits and a stolen base. The scoring spree, however, was derailed when Corey Treyes was hit by a pitch but was not awarded first base because he did not make an attempt to get out of the way. Coppin State head coach Sherman Reed was tossed from the game for arguing on behalf of Treyes.

After Reed exited, Coppin State went quietly, with only Jamar Criss adding to the Eagles’ tally with a fourth-inning solo shot and an RBI single in the eighth.

For the Trojans, the offense was dormant until the fourth inning. Freshman right fielder Brady Shockey put USC on the board after walking, advancing on a balk, then an error and finally stealing home.

The Trojans scored again in the fifth after a walk from Edson and a double from junior third baseman Adalberto Carrillo. Then the real scoring started in the sixth.

Senior AJ Fritts led off with a double and scored on Perez’s single. Freshman infielder John Thomas singled Perez in and Nootbaar drove in Thomas and Edson with a three-run homer over the right-center field fence. Nootbaar had two singles to accompany his home run.

“Lars is a really good hitter,” Hubbs said. “He’s hitting third for a reason, and he’s really matured over the last year. We expect him to have a big year.”

Next up for USC are professional Korean outfit NC Dinos, who shut out the Trojans 5-0 in an exhibition game last year. The Dinos will visit Dedeaux Field once again on Wednesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.