Baseball looks to extend winning streak
No. 25 USC looks to continue its winning streak this week against UC Irvine and later Washington State after going 3-0 this past weekend at the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic.
The Trojans managed to come away with tough wins against skilled and well-coached teams, defeating No. 6 Texas Christian University 7-6, No. 1 Vanderbilt 6-5 and rival No. 6 UCLA 8-4.
Head coach Dan Hubbs attributes the Trojans’ stellar weekend to the team’s growing confidence and ability to perform at important moments.
“I thought that we were really resilient in that we were able to score after the other team scored and were pretty relentless, taking great at-bats and coming up with big clutch hits and executing our game plan,” Hubbs said. “I thought all nine guys in the lineup did well and we had some big moments off the bench. I was real proud of the way they played. I thought they were fantastic.”
USC currently holds a 15-1 record, a significant improvement over the team’s record at this point during last season, 8-6. This season has so far shown the Trojans’ maturity as a team and thirst to win each game.
Hubbs agrees with this notion.
“I think the team has really come into their own this year because of more at-bats and more innings pitched, so I think there’s a bigger confidence from them,” Hubbs said. “A year ago, they were coming off a 20-win season as freshmen, and then last year the second half of the team we played very [well] and the team started to believe that [they were] good.”
“I think the difference between this season and last is that there’s a common belief among the 35 guys in the locker room that every time we go out there we have a chance to win the game no matter who or where we play,” Hubbs said. “It’s been a lot of confidence and maturity all rolled into one and that’s put us in the position that we’re in today.”
Tonight, the Trojans will travel to Anteater Ballpark to take on the UC Irvine Anteaters. UCI is lead by head coach Mike Gillespie, a former Trojan left-fielder during the 1961 national championship and 2014 National Coach of the Year.
UCI currently maintains a 5-9 overall record and a 2-2 home record. The team is highlighted by freshman infielder Parker Coss and junior infielder Mikey Duarte. The team currently holds a .279 team batting average as well as a 5.57 team ERA. The Anteaters will enter tonight’s game coming off a 2-1 series victory over University of Texas, San Antonio.
As for USC, the Trojans currently hold a 15-1 overall record and a 2-1 record on the road. Senior catcher Garrett Stubbs has continued to dominate for the Trojans with a .443 batting average while other Trojans such as Dante Flores, Bobby Stahel, David Oppenheim, Blake Lacey and Angelo La Bruna have managed to hit above .308 thus far. The Trojans currently hold a .311 team batting average as well as a 2.07 team ERA.
Despite his team’s exciting start to the season, Hubbs believes that the team must concentrate on making improvements both offensively and defensively in order to continuing their winning streak.
“I think that we need to continue to grind out at bats, and on the mound we need to be a little bit more consistent with our starts,” Hubbs said. “I think we’re working too hard at times to finish guys off. We have guys at two strikes a lot and just not finishing the at-bat off on the mound. We just need those guys who are starting to improve so they can give us strong starts throughout.”
As the Trojans move to take on UCI and Washington State this weekend — the first conference series on the season — Hubbs feels that the Trojans must step up their game and continue to come up with big plays in tight spots to secure wins.
“There are some really good pitchers in our league that we will come up against that we’re going to need to win some games 2-1 and 3-2 and not rely on having to score 6,7 or 8 runs to win; that won’t be a great recipe for success in our conference,” Hubbs said. “Right now, we’re just focused on enhancing what we’ve already been doing, refining it, making sure that were locked into it, continuing to work on our base running and just striving to play really clean baseball.”
Follow the sport will you. Trojans ranked 14th in the nation after weekend sweep.
Steve B, it is quite sad that you never have anything nice to say :( Your constant rude comments are just unnecessary. If you disagree with the Daily Trojan’s reporting, simply stop reading it. These kids are hard-working reporters with big futures and you are an internet troll. Maybe a new hobby would bring you more happiness. Since you are so passionate about USC baseball, why not start a baseball blog?
What the hell do you know about Trojan athletics. Tell me about their big futures. Check the stats before you present the supposed facts in an article. I actually was in error as the Trojans were ranked 9th and 6th in two different polls. You Mindy are a piece of work with your asinine comment. Don’t like what I say do the same and ignore it.