USC baseball beats UCLA to take weekend series, improve NCAA Tournament odds
USC baseball beats UCLA to take weekend series, improve NCAA Tournament odds USC continues to strengthen its case as an NCAA Tournament team. The Trojans are not letting up. They are playing their best baseball at the right time.
Over the weekend, USC baseball welcomed rival UCLA to Great Park in Irvine for the annual Crosstown Showdown series. After dropping Friday night's series opener, the Trojans took game two on Saturday, setting up a rubber game on Sunday. In the series finale, USC rode a strong offensive attack to an 11-5 victory. The Trojans actually fell behind early, allowing three runs in the first inning. However, the USC stormed back, scoring three runs in the fourth inning, four in the fifth, and two in the sixth to break the game open.
After starter Mason Edwards recorded just one out, freshman Andrew Johnson came on in relief and allowed no earned runs over 6 1/3 innings of relief. Another freshman, Grant Govel, pitched 2 1/3 scoreless frames to close it out and send the Bruins home.
With the victory, USC now sits at 32-15 on the season. With two weeks to go in conference play, the Trojans have a record of 16-8 in Big Ten play, having won eight consecutive series. There is still work left to be done, but the Trojans are currently in very good shape to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade.
That work continues with a trip up the coast to take on UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday. The Trojans will then host Michigan State at Great Park next weekend in their final home series of the year.
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