Before a pitch was thrown this season, head coach Andy Stankiewicz said it was time to “step up.” On Monday night, the Trojans stepped up, beating the Aggies 7-1, advancing to the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005.
“It’s a legacy. It’s a big one,” coach Stankiewicz said at the postgame press conference. “Obviously, we all know about [former USC baseball coaches Rod] Dedeaux and [Mike] Gillespie and what they’ve done, and we want to put a nice name back on USC baseball. It’s been part of the plan since we got here.”
Under coaches Dedeaux and Gillespie, USC became the winningest program in Division I baseball, with 12 national championships. After winning their most recent championship in 1998, the USC baseball program suffered a significant decline: USC finished with a winning record in only 10 of the next 24 seasons.
Each season under Stankiewicz’s leadership has ended with the Trojans a step or two closer to a national championship. In 2023, the team wasn’t selected for the NCAA tournament. In 2024, they lost the Pac-12 championship game. In 2025, they made it to Regionals, only to be eliminated in a do-or-die game like the one they just played. This time, it turned out differently.
“The train’s moving,” Stankiewicz said. “We’re certainly excited to see where we’re going.”
Early in the game, USC found itself on the back foot, as sophomore starter Grant Govel surrendered a home run to junior catcher Bear Harrison, falling behind 1-0. In his second start of Regionals, Govel allowed just one run on three hits and two walks, while striking out four batters in four innings pitched.
The Trojan lineup was quick to turn things around and pick up their right-handed starter. Junior shortstop Dean Carpentier singled in the bottom of the fourth, then advanced to second on a well-placed sacrifice bunt by freshman outfielder Walter Urbon, and finally scored off of junior second baseman Abbrie Covarrubias’ single. Sophomore designated hitter Augie Lopez drove Covarrubias in later in the inning to give USC the 2-1 lead.
Augie Lopez later made good on his reputation as the power bat in the lineup, opening the game up in the seventh inning with a three-run home run to right field, making it a 5-1 ballgame. Overall, he went 2-for-4 on the night with five runs batted in.
“Coach [Travis] Jewett likes to say that we’re going to ride the bull,” Augie Lopez said at the postgame conference, referring to the team’s ability to wear down opposing pitching staffs. “Whoever the bull is on the mound for them, we’re going to take advantage and have our own approach and we executed today.”
Junior starting pitcher Clayton Freshcorn did well for Texas A&M, throwing a season-high 101 pitches over 6.2 innings, striking out five while surrendering five runs as a consequence of fatigue.
With the bases loaded in the eighth inning, Adrian Lopez drove in one run on a fielder’s choice that pulled catcher Harrison off the plate. Augie Lopez followed up with a sacrifice fly that enabled Walter Urbon to tag and score.
After taking the loss against Texas State earlier in regionals, redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Adam Troy, a Texas native himself, did not waste the opportunity to shut the door on Texas A&M to earn the save.
“We want to make [friends and family of the team] proud,” Stankiewicz said. “We’re happy that they could celebrate with us.”
After returning home to Dedeaux Field earlier this season after two years of stadium construction, and a historic 19-0 win streak to start the year, this Trojans group is now two wins away from a trip to the College World Series in Omaha. Should they advance to the College World Series Final and win, it would be the Trojans’ first baseball championship in 28 years.
The USC Trojans will travel to Chapel Hill to play the UNC Tar Heels in a best-of-three series. The first game will take place on Friday, June 5 at 12pm PT, and will be broadcast on ESPN2.