History was made at Dedeaux Field last night as No. 25 USC (16-0, 3-0 Big Ten) defeated Cal State Long Beach (4-12, 0-3 Big West) in a 6-1 victory en route to the best start in the program’s 137-year history. The Trojans’ 16th straight win surpassed the 15-0 start from the 1988 season.
“To do something that no team has ever done prior is a pretty significant accomplishment,” head coach Andy Stankiewicz said after the game. “We know we’ve got a long way to go, but it’s a pretty cool accomplishment.”
Despite remaining unranked all season by D1Baseball until Monday, USC has turned the heads of thousands around the country as the Trojans look to return to Omaha and end a 28-year championship drought.
“I’m happy for the guys,” Stankiewicz said. “To their credit, it’s all about them.”
On the pitching side, three pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts while only giving up three hits and one run.
“It’s pretty obvious our pitching staff knows what they’re doing,” junior outfielder Andrew Lamb said. “We’re confident in them.”
Tuesday’s effort was led by sophomore right-handed starting pitcher Chase Herrell, who pitched a season-high 5.2 innings and tied a season-high of seven strikeouts.
“We needed Chase to give us five or six innings, and he did exactly that,” Stankiewicz said.
Herrell’s start allowed the bullpen to rest and prepare for Wednesday’s game. He continues to improve in every start and has now lowered his ERA to 4.05.
“He’s taken on that role as a fourth starter for us, and he’s done a great job with it,” Stankiewicz said.
After Stankiewicz pulled Herrell in the sixth, graduate right-handed reliever Henry Chabot entered and pitched the best game of his USC career to date. He nearly doubled his season stats in innings pitched and strikeouts, also helping him lower his ERA to 2.45.
Overall, the Trojans’ pitching staff is unmatched this season. The starters and relievers have been forces of nature and now lead the nation in WHIP and ERA, while remaining one of two undefeated teams.
While the pitching staff had another impressive game, it was the offense that jumped out to an early 4-0 lead by the third inning.
Lamb started the scoring as he cranked a long three-run home run over the right field wall in the second inning.
“Honestly, I was just looking for a good pitch to hit,” Lamb said. “I got my pitch, and good things happened.”
Lamb finished 1-for-2, was hit by a pitch and scored junior catcher Issac Cadena on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
Cadena has now recorded back-to-back games with multiple hits, raising his season total of multi-hit games to four. Whether in the outfield or behind the dish, Cadena has found ways to produce offensively. Last night, he went 2-for-3, recording a walk and scoring two runs.
The team leader in multi-hit games is junior infielder Abbrie Covarrubias, who recorded his fifth multi-hit game in the win. Covarrubias went 2-for-4 with a walk and one run scored as he continues to be a key piece in the lineup as the leadoff hitter.
USC will face another test as it takes on the University of San Diego (7-8) tonight at 6 p.m. at Dedeaux Field, where the Trojans will look to extend their perfect start.