After two tight victories that came down to the final innings of the game, the USC baseball team exploded early in the series finale against San Jose State to sweep the Spartans at Dedeaux Field. The series sweep is the Trojans’ third of the season and moves them to 17-8 on the year.
USC’s offense got off to a quiet start on Friday night, remaining scoreless until the last two frames when the Trojans scored five runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to beat San Jose State 7-6.
To start the late rally in the seventh inning, redshirt sophomore right fielder Adrian Colon-Rosado was hit by a pitch and sophomore catcher Garret Guillemette followed it up with a double down the left-field line that put the Trojans at second and third with nobody out. Redshirt senior left fielder Trevor Halsema then gave USC the energizer it needed with a three-run homer to put the Trojans on the board for the first time in the game.
Following the home run, USC put runners in scoring position again after redshirt junior designated hitter Tyler Lozano walked and redshirt sophomore third baseman Johnny Olmstead doubled to left field. Junior first baseman Nick Lopez brought Lozano home on a groundout, and redshirt sophomore center fielder Rhylan Thomas tied the game at 5-5 on a sacrifice fly that brought Olmstead home.
Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Carson Lambert pitched a scoreless top of the eighth to bring USC up to the plate again, and continuing the Trojans’ newfound offensive momentum, redshirt sophomore second baseman Tyresse Turner led off with a double to left-center. Colon-Rosado singled Turner home to give USC the lead and eventually scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Lozano.
“I didn’t feel like we came out with a sense of urgency right away, but a credit to the players, they found a way to get it done in those last two innings,” USC head coach Jason Gill said after Sunday’s game. “This team has a knack for figuring out how to win games and hold on to leads.”
On Saturday, the Trojans took an early 2-0 lead with back-to-back solo home runs by Guillemette and Halsema in the second inning. After a scoreless third by both teams, Halsema extended USC’s lead with his second home run of the day to left field.
The Spartans answered back by scoring a pair of runs in the fifth, and a two-run homer in the sixth by redshirt sophomore first baseman Dalton Bowling that gave San Jose State a 4-3 lead. However, that lead would not last for long when Turner scored on a sacrifice fly by Halsema to tie the game at 4-4.
San Jose State took the lead again in the eighth on a solo home run by sophomore second baseman Charles McAdoo, but redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Kyle Wisch retired the Spartans’ next three batters to bring USC up at bat again.
Hitting his first home run of the season, Turner tied the game at five, and the lead changed for the fourth and final time when Colon-Rosado followed with a solo home run to put the Trojans ahead 6-5. A sacrifice fly later in the inning made it 7-5 which was the eventual final score. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Matt Keating ended the game with his second save of the series on a 1-2-3 ninth inning that ended with a strikeout.
Despite USC having to rally late in both Friday and Saturday’s games, the Trojans exploded on Sunday afternoon led by a strong eight innings from sophomore right-handed pitcher Charlie Hurley. In the longest start of his collegiate career, Hurley allowed only two unearned runs.
“I thought Charlie Hurley did a great job today of settling in after a couple of early rough innings,” Gill said. “It was the third or fourth and we had the bases loaded, no outs, and only gave up one and that was a big deal.”
USC scored all six of its runs in the second inning starting with a grand slam by Olmstead – his fourth home run of the season. Lopez immediately followed with a solo home run to make the score 5-0, and later in the inning, Turner would come around to score on a single by Colon-Rosado.
In the third and fourth innings, the Spartans put up one run each but both USC and San Jose State remained scoreless throughout the rest of the game. Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Carson Lambert closed out the series pitching a scoreless ninth that also ended with a strikeout.
In opposition to the first two games of the series being late comebacks, the Trojans maintained their early lead and held off the Spartans to earn USC the series sweep on Sunday.
“It’s really hard to sweep at this level of play,” said Coach Gill. “We’re just going to celebrate it and enjoy it. Winning games builds confidence and we find out a lot about our ball club at these kinds of games.”
The Trojans will continue their home stand against Hawaii in another non-conference match-up at Dedeaux Field on Monday at 6 p.m.