BASEBALL: Corvallis Regional Preview - Meet the USC Trojans
This week, we are previewing the Corvallis Regional, a double-elimination opening round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, hosted by #8 national seed Oregon State.
Today, our focus is on the USC Trojans. How did they get here?
Los Angeles was the epicenter of conference realignment
In June 2023, UCLA and USC agreed to join the Big Ten beginning in August of 2024. Their move sent shockwaves across the Pac-12: soon Oregon and Washington joined the LA schools in the Big Ten, while Four Corners schools Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, and Colorado aligned with the Big 12, and Cal & Stanford packed their bags for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
A new conference wasn’t the only change for USC: due to ongoing renovations at USC’s Dedeaux Field, the Trojans played the majority of their home games at Great Park in Irvine, and a handful of games at Loyola Marymount’s Page Stadium in Westchester.
Fresh off the nation’s 20th ranked recruiting class, the Trojans hoped a talented lineup would persevere through the uncertainty of a new conference and a new ballpark.
In February, the Trojans overpowered their opponents
In the opening game of the season against George Washington University from the Atlantic 10, USC overpowered the Revolutionaries 15-2. Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek, son of 15 year pro big leaguer Mark Grudzielanek, swung a triple.
The Trojans finished the month of February with an 8-1 record.
In March, an early test bolstered their postseason resume.
It Just Matters More is a slogan that defines Southeastern Conference baseball: the most dominant assembly of talent in college baseball includes perennial national title contenders Vanderbilt. But for one day in March, they were just another school on USC’s hit list. On March 1st, the Trojans defeated the heavily favored Commodores 3-1, thanks to a career high 10 strikeouts from starting pitcher Caden Aoki.
The following day, USC dipped into the loss column against arch-rivals UCLA. Suddenly, a losing streak formed: the Trojans crashed out against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday March 4th, got swept by Oregon the following weekend, and then fell at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday March 11th.
Without the win over Vanderbilt, they might not have reached the tournament.
In April, they stayed afloat
USC began a dichotomous trend: the Trojans would lose midweek non-conference games to schools like Hawaii and Gonzaga, but win their Big Ten weekend series’. The program’s high mark in April was a series win against Penn State; they also swept Ohio State and Minnesota.
Notably, the final game of the Minnesota stand featured a ninth inning rally. Trailing 2-1, Trojans outfielder Kade Higgins chopped a game-tying hit through the left side of the infield, and an Ethan Hedges fielder’s choice groundout scored the game-winning run.
Following the month of April, the Trojans had won two thirds of their Big Ten games (14-7), with an overall mark of 29-14.
In May, a rivalry series renewed postseason hopes
The opening series of the month brought UCLA to Great Park, and the Trojans toppled them with a pair of wins. After dropping three straight games (a midweek contest with UC Santa Barbara, and the opening two games of a series vs Michigan State) USC recovered with a 2-2 regular season tally against Michigan State and Washington. The Trojans finished the regular season with a 35-21 overall record and 18-12 conference record, good for 4th in the Big Ten standings.
In the Big Ten tournament, a narrow loss 2-1 to Penn State kept the Men of Troy from advancing past pool play. Caden Aoki struck out 7 batters in 6 innings, only allowing 1 run, but his teammates’ bats slumped.
What’s next? The Corvallis Regional.
The Trojans begin Corvallis Regional action Friday at noon against 2-seed TCU. The game will air on ESPNU. A full bracket of the regional can be found here.
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Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.