USC hitting road to face Arizona State


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Sophomore pitcher Charlie Hurley delivers a pitch.
Sophomore pitcher Charlie Hurley has a 1.85 ERA through his 10 appearences this season, besting his 4.29 ERA from last season. (Vincent Leo | Daily Trojan)

Baseball is preparing for its upcoming three-game away series against Arizona State April 14-16. The Trojans currently sit at a 4-8 conference record and 18-12 overall.

The team comes off a 16-10 win against Cal State University, Northridge, where USC put up six homers on the board from five different batters. Redshirt sophomore Adrian Colon-Rosado had two, one in each of the first two innings. 

Head Coach Jason Gill said he felt that the Trojans showed up despite the tough weather conditions.

“The wind was blowing pretty hard, and I thought our pitchers did well all the way up until that ninth inning and then holding them down to 5 runs prior to that,” said Gill in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “The defense played well and obviously, we came at the bat, so it’s a good deal.”

Colon-Rosado’s three-run shot to right field in the first inning sparked the Trojans’ homerun rally. His second home run was the third of the second inning, following sophomore infielder D’Andre Smith and redshirt sophomore infielder/outfielder Tyrese Turner’s solo home runs. 

Colon-Rosado leads the team with the highest batting average of .387, 41 hits and 27 runs. 

“I think if you were going to say one of them is the biggest surprise, it would probably be [Colon-Rosado] just because he didn’t have a body of work coming into the season,” Gill said. “This is the first time he’s really gotten an opportunity to play.”  

Next on the leaderboard is Turner with a .321 batting average, 36 hits and 22 runs. Thomas sits close behind with a .320 batting average, 39 hits and 19 runs. The three players have shouldered the load on offense this season. 

Next up for the Trojans is Arizona State, who will host the Pac-12 series against USC at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The Sun Devils have a 5-7 conference record and a 15-19 overall record. 

Arizona State enters the series on a high after a blowout 21-1 win against Santa Clara. The Sun Devils racked up 22 hits with key offensive plays from redshirt sophomores outfielder Joe Lampe, infielder Sean McLain, catcher Nate Baez and freshman infielder Cam Magee — all four players had 3 hits. 

Grad student infielder Conor Davis leads the hosts in batting average with a .339 average, 43 hits and 24 runs. Redshirt sophomore outfielder Joe Lampe tops the leaderboard with the most hits at 47 hits and 145 at-bats. 

“I think that the pitching staff in general is going to have thick skin because there are gonna be balls that, in Southern California, would be routine fly balls but are gonna leave the yard [in Arizona],” Gill said. “You just gotta get back out there and continue to throw strikes.” 

The last time the Trojans faced the Sun Devils, USC fell short in a 10-7 loss. Gill said he wants the pitching staff to tighten up on allowing walks.

“I think what kills you the most, and you saw it yesterday [at Northridge], is free bases,” Gill said. “Anywhere you go, you don’t wanna walk anyone, but I think when you go into ballparks like Arizona State, you gotta try to play real tight defense and not walk anybody.”

Arizona State will host the Pac-12 series against the Trojans at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The first pitch is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m.