It may have taken a rubber match, but USC baseball won its second straight Big Ten series.
In game one on Friday, USC sent its ace, junior lefty Caden Hunter, to the mound. Hunter was coming off a brilliant performance in Michigan, where he went 6.1 innings of one-run ball.
The USC offense got off to a fast start as sophomore infielder Adrian Lopez drove in the first run of the game, following junior infielder Ethan Hedges’ triple. In the third, the two-three men in the lineup, Hedges and Lopez, singled, setting up sophomore infielder/outfielder Kevin Takeuchi. Takeuchi doubled to drive in the two runs. Sophomore infielder Dean Carpentier gave the Trojans their fourth hit in a row in the inning, adding the third run of the frame and fourth overall for USC.
“You want to get out of the gate well,” USC head coach Andy Stankiewicz said. “It lets us know the boys are ready to go, and ready to put some good bats together right out of the gate.”
The Cornhuskers got the three runs back right away off Hunter, who had not allowed a hit up until the fourth. A pair of leadoff walks came back to haunt him, both of which scored after a pair of doubles. Nebraska pulled within a run, 4-3.
In the seventh, with the Trojans clinging to a one-run lead, Stankiewicz called freshman catcher Augie Lopez off the bench. After a 10-pitch battle, which included six foul balls, Lopez got into one, launching his first collegiate home run and, more importantly, giving the Trojans some breathing room.
“It was a great at-bat,” Stankiewicz said. “A big moment for the young man, freshman pinch hitting, put together one of the better bats that we’ve seen all year long. It doesn’t matter if he’s a freshman or a senior, it was a fantastic [at-bat].”
Hunter exited after seven solid innings and turned the ball over to the Trojan bullpen, which closed out a 5-3 victory.
Game two proved to be another nail-biting, back-and-forth finish. If Hunter headlines the pitching staff, senior right-hander Caden Aoki is not far behind. USC turned to the Huntington Beach native, fresh off a brilliant outing against Michigan, to try and take the series.
The Trojans struck first again in the first inning, with familiar faces leading the rally. Takeuchi delivered again, singling up the middle on a full-count pitch to give USC a 1-0 lead. He got his second hit and RBI in as many at-bats in the third, doubling the USC lead to 2-0.
The first sign of trouble for Aoki came in the fourth. The Cornhuskers put two on with two outs when junior shortstop Dylan Carey tied the game with a double. Senior third baseman Joshua Overbeek also doubled, giving Nebraska a 4-2 lead.
Aoki stayed in the game and ended up going two more innings after his fourth-inning struggles, finishing his night with 6.1 innings pitched and four runs allowed.
In the sixth, the Trojans took the lead, sending eight men to the plate. What looked to be a quick inning, with the first two batters retired quickly, turned into a rally. Stankiewicz’s instincts proved to be right again, as the comeback was capped off by freshman pinch-hitter Maximo Martinez, who had just five at-bats all season coming into the game. Martinez drove in his first two RBI of the season, giving USC a 5-4 lead.
“It’s always tough coming off the bench in a tough spot after sitting down, but no excuses. You always just compete, make [the] most of it,” Martinez said. “I’ve had a lot of confidence, trust myself, trust my ability. This game’s mental, so just having confidence helps.”
In the ninth, with USC hanging on to a one-run lead, the Trojans sent their go-to closer, Hedges, to finish the game. With a Cornhusker at every base and two outs, freshman second baseman Devin Nunez singled up the middle on a full count, blowing Hedges’ save opportunity. USC was unable to spark a rally in the bottom of the ninth, tying the series at one game apiece.
In the rubber match of the three-game series, USC sent freshman long reliever Grant Govel to the mound to try and salvage the series.
In the first inning — for the third game in a row — USC scratched across a run. Martinez, making his first start of the season, outdid his career day from the game before. Later in the sixth, with USC already leading 4-0, Martinez led off the inning with his first collegiate home run.
“Honestly, it didn’t feel real,” Martinez said. “Glad it happened. I was looking for a fastball. As soon as I got it, I was swinging at it.”
USC went back-to-back when redshirt junior infielder Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek launched his second home run of the season.
Bouncing back from his rough outing against Michigan, Govel made a statement start, going five shutout innings, holding the Cornhuskers to just four hits while also striking out four. USC had lost the previous four Sunday games before this one.
“Having a good defense behind us helps,” Govel said. “[We’ve] been bad on Sundays, but it’s all about filling up the zone, and it’s what we did.”
With a big lead, the USC bullpen closed out the series without much fanfare. USC won 7-1, giving the Trojans the series win over Nebraska.
“Govel did a great job, " Stankiewicz said. “We needed him to extend a little bit, and he did that. Can’t give him enough credit, he established right out of the gate.”
USC got good contributions from its more unlikely players – Martinez got two hits including a home run, junior catcher Richard Tejeda drove in two and freshman third baseman Maddox Riske drove in one.
“You get some opportunities, some guys that haven’t played as much, " Stankiewicz said. “Riske gets a big knock his first at-bat and then [Martinez] puts a couple good swings and a homer. We want to be as complete a lineup as we can be, but those guys put some good at-bats together.”
USC looks to keep it rolling against UC Irvine on Tuesday, when it plays the Anteaters at LMU’s Page Stadium.