Latest news with #AndyStankiewicz
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
USC baseball signs head coach Andy Stankiewicz to contract extension through 2030 season
Andy Stankiewicz is officially going to be sticking around USC for a while. On Saturday, the Trojans announced that they have signed their head baseball coach to a contract extension through the 2030 season. Stankiewicz just led USC baseball to their best campaign in nearly two decades. The Trojans qualified for their first NCAA Tournament since 2015 and made it to the final of the Corvallis regional, where they fell to Oregon State in the decisive seventh game. If USC wants to make it back to the NCAA Tournament in 2026, they will have to do so without their two best players from this past season. Two-way sensation Ethan Hedges was drafted in the third round of the MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies and signed with the team, while star pitcher Caden Aoki transferred to Georgia for his final year of eligibility. While Hedges and Aoki will be tough to replace, however, the Trojans should return many key players from their NCAA Tournament run. In addition, after two years without an on-campus stadium, USC should finally be able to begin playing at the new Dedeaux Field next spring. In recent years, the storied USC baseball program seemed to have lost its way a bit. But with Stankiewicz at the helm for years to come, the future for the Trojans appears to be trending upward.
USA Today
18-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Andy Stankiewicz discusses future of USC baseball after breakthrough season
Andy Stankiewicz discusses future of USC baseball after breakthrough season USC baseball certainly appears to be on the upswing right now. The Trojans are coming off of a season in which they made the NCAS Tournament for the first time in a decade. With head coach Andy Stankiewicz at the helm, the program appears to be in good hands heading into 2026 and beyond. Recently, Stankiewicz spoke to Ryan Kartje of The Los Angeles Times about the program's future outlook. 'The foundation is built,' Stankiewicz said. 'It's solid. We've got pieces in place where we can now start to build it even taller. 'This is a program that's been to Omaha a lot. The expectation is that we'll get back to that, and our guys have to understand that. This wasn't enough. It was good. Well done. Nice job. But this can't be what this program is about. It has to be about going to the next step, and the next step is winning a regional, winning a Super, getting to Omaha.' Next season, the Trojans will return to campus and play their home games at the newly renovated Dedeaux Field. In a way, it feels like a fitting metaphor for the program as Stankiewicz looks to usher in a new age of USC baseball championships.
Los Angeles Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
The Sports Report: USC's baseball season comes to an end
From Shotgun Spratling: There's levels to a proper program build. Baby steps have to sometimes be taken, even if everyone involved would like to jump past several of those. Lessons have to be learned. Experiences, both positive and negative, have to be endured. USC suffered through one of those difficult experiences, getting manhandled by national championship contender Oregon State for the second day in a row in the Corvallis Regional final. The No. 8 national seed shut down USC's offensive attack in the winner-take-all regional final, eliminating the Trojans from the NCAA tournament with a 9-0 victory. 'Frustrating finish for sure,' USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said after being outscored 23-1 in back-to-back losses to the Beavers. 'Proud of our boys and our coaching staff. Proud to wear this jersey. We've gotten better. Obviously, this weekend shows us that we've got to get better and be more competitive.' Oregon State freshman James DeCremer, making just his second start of the season, held USC (37-23) to two hits in five scoreless innings. Then sophomore Eric Segura, who was pulled in the first inning of his start Friday after getting knocked around by Saint Mary's, fired three scoreless innings. Sophomore Laif Palmer entered after just USC's third hit of the game. He induced the fifth double play of the day and got another groundout to close out the game. All three Oregon State pitchers fired mid-90s fastballs, something rare among USC pitchers and too much for the Trojan hitters to handle. 'We had a hard time controlling their arms,' Stankiewicz said. 'The fastball was pretty hot.' Continue reading here All Times Pacific NBA FINALS West No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. Indiana Thursday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABCSunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABCWed., June 11 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABCFriday, June 13 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABCMonday, June 16 at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ABC*Thursday, June 19 at Indiana, 5:30 p.m., ABC*Sunday, June 22 at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ABC* *if necessary From Jack Harris: It took the Dodgers until the ninth inning Monday night to erase their first two-run deficit. But when Tanner Scott surrendered a pair of scores in the top of the 10th, they couldn't do it again. In a 4-3 extra-innings loss to the New York Mets on Monday, a night that started with frustration — then crescendoed with a late-game rally — ultimately ended in a familiar fizzle. Despite tying it behind a seventh-inning home run and a ninth-inning sacrifice fly from Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers (36-24) once again stumbled beneath the weight of their slumping closer. In the top of the 10th, Scott gave up an RBI double to Francisco Alvarez to lead off the inning. Francisco Lindor followed with a down-the-line single to bring another run for the Mets (38-22). The left-hander, who signed for four years and $72 million this offseason, has a 4.73 earned-run average in his first 28 outings. And after coming back once on Monday night, the Dodgers' magic ran out in the bottom of the 10th. Continue reading here Plaschke: Missed chance to sweep Yankees leaves Dodgers in a precarious spot Dodgers injuries: Mookie Betts nears return, but Tyler Glasnow's body 'not responding' Well, Sale! It's the Dodgers who have the all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings Dodgers box score MLB scores MLB standings Mike Trout had three hits, including a three-run, 454-foot homer off the left-center field light stanchion in the Angels' six-run first inning on Monday night, in a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox. Zach Neto homered to lead off the game, and the Angels opened a 5-0 lead before before Red Sox starter Richard Fitts (0-3) recorded his first out. Jo Adell also homered in the first and added another solo shot in the sixth after Boston cut the lead to 6-5. Jarren Duran had three hits for Boston, including a double to start the four-run fifth inning. Ceddanne Rafaela homered to make it 7-6 in the eighth. Ryan Zeferjahn (3-1) was credited with the win, pitching a scoreless seventh inning and striking out two. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 11th save, getting Romy Gonzalez on a line drive to the warning track in right to end it. Continue reading here Angels box score MLB scores MLB standings From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: LA28 announced Honda as its automotive partner for the L.A. Olympics on Monday, securing a major founding-level partnership that will help the private organizing committee cover its estimated $7-billion budget. Honda, which opened its U.S. headquarters in L.A. in 1959 and is now based in Torrance, will work with LA28 on an accessible vehicle fleet that maximizes electric vehicles for the Games to help move athletes and officials around Southern California. The partnership will support U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and the Summer Games in 2028. Financial terms of the top-tier partnership were not announced. Honda joins Delta and Comcast as LA28's founding partners expected to lead the way in covering the estimated $2.5 billion in corporate sponsorship needed to stage the first Summer Games held in the United States since 1996. Continue reading here All times Pacific STANLEY CUP FINALS P3 Edmonton vs. A3 FloridaWednesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNTFriday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNTMonday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNTThursday, June 12 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNTSaturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT*Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT*Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., TNT* * If necessary 1944 — Bounding Home, ridden by G.L. Smith, wins the Belmont Stakes by one-half length over Pensive, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. 1959 — European Cup Final, Stuttgart: Real Madrid beats Stade de Reims, 2-0; 4th consecutive title for Los Blancos. 1961 — Sherluck, ridden by Braulio Baeza, wins the Belmont Stakes. Carry Beck, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, finishes seventh. 1972 — French Open Women's Tennis: American icon Billie Jean King wins her only French singles title; beats Evonne Goolagong of Australia 6-3, 6-3. 1984 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by a record 10 strokes over Beth Daniel and Pat Bradley. 1991 — Thomas Hearns becomes a world champion for the sixth time, capturing the World Boxing Association's light-heavyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Virgil Hill. 1992 — Chicago's Michael Jordan scores a record 35 points, including a record six 3-pointers, in the first half as the Bulls beat Portland 122-89 in the opening game of the NBA Finals. Jordan finishes with 39 points and Chicago is only two points shy of the largest victory margin in the finals. 1999 — Four days after her first LPGA Tour victory, Kelli Kuehne ties the Women's U.S. Open record with an 8-under 64 in the first round to take a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster. 2001 — Karrie Webb wins the U.S. Women's Open in a runaway for the second year in a row. Webb shoots a 1-under 69 for an eight-stroke victory, the largest margin at a Women's Open in 21 years. 2004 — Calgary ties an NHL record with its 10th road win of the playoffs with a 3-2 overtime victory over Tampa Bay in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. The New Jersey Devils also won 10 road playoff games during their championship seasons of 1995 and 2000. 2006 — Jeff Burton has the biggest come-from-behind win ever in a Busch race, overcoming a 36th-place starting position in the Dover 200 for his second victory of the season. 2006 — Russia's Nikolai Valuev retains his WBA heavyweight title in Hanover, Germany, stopping Jamaican challenger Owen Beck with a right uppercut in the third round. 2011 — Roger Federer ends Novak Djokovic's perfect season and 43-match winning streak, beating him 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the French Open semifinals. Federer advances to the title match against five-time champion Rafael Nadal. Nadal reaches his sixth final in seven years at Roland Garros by defeating Andy Murray 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the other semifinal. 2012 — Tiger Woods won his 73rd PGA tour victory with a two-stoke win over Andres Romero and Rory Sabbatini in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Course. 2017 — UEFA Champions League Final, Cardiff: Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice as defending champions Real Madrid thrash Juventus, 4-1 for 12th title; Juventus loses 5th consecutive final. 2018 — Stephen Curry, Golden State, broke Ray Allen's NBA Finals record for the most 3-pointers with nine in the Warriors 122-103 Game 2 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. 1918 — Dutch Leonard of the Boston Red Sox pitched his second no-hitter, blanking the Detroit Tigers 5-0. 1932 — Lou Gehrig became the first American League player to hit four home runs in a game, helping the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia A's 20-13. The event was overshadowed by the resignation of John McGraw as manager of the New York Giants. 1954 — Henry Thompson of the New York Giants hit three home runs and drove in eight runs in a 13-8 win against the St. Louis Cardinals. Willie Mays drove in the other five runs with two homers. 1971 — Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs pitched his second no-hitter, beating the Cincinnati Reds 1-0. 1978 — Dave Johnson became the first major leaguer to hit two pinch-hit grand slams in a season. His grand slam in the ninth inning gave the Philadelphia Phillies a 5-1 victory over the Dodgers. 1989 — The Dodgers and Houston played 22 innings at the Astrodome in the longest night game in National League history -- 7 hours and 14 minutes. The Astros won the game on Rafael Ramirez's RBI single off Jeff Hamilton, normally the Dodgers' third baseman. When the game ended, Fernando Valenzuela was playing first and Eddie Murray was at third. 1989 — Nolan Ryan pitched his 11th career one-hitter and struck out 11 as Texas beat Seattle 6-1. It was Ryan's 16th low-hit game (no-hitter or one-hitter), breaking Bob Feller's record of 15. 1995 — Pedro Martinez of Montreal pitched nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos 1-0 win. 2003 — Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Chicago's 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after umpires found cork in his shattered bat. 2006 — Damion Easley hit three homers and had seven RBIs in Arizona's 13-9 victory over Atlanta. 2008 — Randy Johnson took sole possession of second place on baseball's career strikeout list after getting the Milwaukee Brewers' Mike Cameron to go down swinging in the first inning. It was Johnson's 4,673rd career strikeout, breaking a tie with Roger Clemens and leaving the Arizona Diamondbacks' veteran ace behind only Nolan Ryan, who had 5,714 strikeouts in his career. 2017 — Albert Pujols hits his 600th home run of his career, the historic blast being a 4th-inning grand slam off Ervin Santana of the Twins in a 7-2 Angels win. He is the ninth player to join the exclusive fraternity. 2017 — Endinson Volquez of the Mets throws the first no-hiitter of the year, defeating the Diamonbacks 3-0. 2018 — Blake Snell ties an American League record by striking out the first 7 batters he faces for the Rays against the Mariners. 2022 — With a disappointing 22-29 record after splurging on free agents over the past few years, the Phillies fire manager Joe Girardi, who has failed to take them to the postseason in his two-plus seasons at the helm. Bench coach Rob Thomson is named manager on an interim basis to finish the season. 2024 —Padres player Tucupita Marcano faces a lifetime ban from baseball after an investigation by MLB found that he has placed bets on a large number of major league games, in contravention of very clear rule. He is suspected of having bet on Pirates games while injured last season; he has not played this season, also due to injury. The lifetime ban will be confirmed tomorrow and four other players will receive one-year suspensions for placing bets while they were in the minor leagues: Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez and Andrew Saalfrank. Compiled by the Associated Press That concludes today's newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you'd like to see, email me at To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
USA Today
02-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
After blowout loss, USC baseball can look to world champion Dodgers for inspiration
After blowout loss, USC baseball can look to world champion Dodgers for inspiration On Sunday night, USC baseball was blown out 14-1 by Oregon State in the NCAA Tournament. With the loss, the Trojans blew an opportunity to clinch their first trip to the super regionals in 19 years. Instead, the two teams will play a winner-take-all game on Monday afternoon in order to decide who moves on. Obviously, losing a postseason game by 13 runs is demoralizing. However, the Trojans do not have time to wallow. They have to turn around and play a decisive game less than 24 hours later. For inspiration, Andy Stankiewicz's team can look just a few miles up the road at the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Last October, the Dodgers entered Game 5 of the NLCS with a chance to clinch to clinch a trip to the World Series with a win. Like the Trojans on Sunday, however, Los Angeles's potential clincher turned into a nightmare. The Dodgers were blown out 12-6 by the New York Mets in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score indicated. Two days later, the Dodgers had another chance to clinch the pennant. This time, they finished the job, handling New York 10-5 to win the National League and advance to the Fall Classic. In the World Series against the New York Yankees, the same scenario unfolded. With a chance to clinch the title in Game 4, the Dodgers were blown out 11-4. The following night, however, it was a different story, as LA pulled out a 7-6 instant classic victory to win the championship. On two separate occasions, the Dodgers had a chance to clinch a series, but instead suffered a blowout loss. Both times, they responded emphatically in the following game, getting the win they needed. On Monday, USC baseball will look to do the same. After being blown out in a potential clincher on Sunday, the Trojans will get another shot on Monday in a winner-take-all game. If they want to emerge victorious, the Trojans will need to put the struggles of the last game behind them and focus on the task at hand. Fortunately for the Trojans, there is a very clear blueprint on how to do so. To find it, they need only look to their baseball brethren in Los Angeles.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ethan Hedges homers twice to lift USC baseball past Saint Mary's in NCAA tournament
USC's Augie Lopez hits a home run against Saint Mary's at the Corvallis Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament on Saturday night. The Trojans won 6-4. (Shotgun Spratling / For The Times) Saint Mary's coach Eric Valenzuela knew who he didn't want to beat him. Valenzuela said before Saturday night's matchup with USC that Ethan Hedges is the scariest hitter in the Trojans' lineup even though the midseason All-American hadn't played to the same standard in the second half. Hedges was hitting .415 with 22 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs, and 39 RBIs through USC's first 32 games. But since April 8, Hedges had lacked the same electricity. Over a 25-game span, he had batted .247 with just five extra-base hits and 17 RBIs. Advertisement Still the fear was there for opposing coaches. Hedges showed why Saturday. USC's Adrian Lopez (5) forces out Saint Mary's Diego Castellanos out at first base on Saturday. (Shotgun Spratling / For The Times) He broke out with a two-homer performance, including the go-ahead long ball, to power USC to a 6-4 victory and into the Corvallis Regional final. The Trojans are one win away from their first super regionals appearance since 2005. USC left-hander Mason Edwards pitched an efficient 5⅓ innings, needing just 64 pitches before he was removed after giving up his sixth hit. Two of those left the yard, giving Saint Mary's a 3-1 lead early, but USC showed the resiliency that has been a key element of the program under third-year coach Andy Stankiewicz. Advertisement With two outs and seemingly no momentum in the fourth inning, USC's Abbrie Covarrubias got on base by beating out a high chopper to shortstop. Freshman Augie Lopez tied it two pitches later when he demolished a fastball, putting it on top of the scoreboard in right-center field. USC pitcher Mason Edwards delivers against Saint Mary's in the Corvallis Regional on Saturday. (Shotgun Spratling / For The Times) Hedges' second blast gave USC a 4-3 lead an inning later. The Trojans led 5-3 heading into the eighth when things got dicey. Saint Mary's loaded the bases with a pair of soft singles to right field and a four-pitch walk. A sacrifice fly brought Gaels three-hole hitter Aiden Taurek to the plate. USC ace reliever Brodie Purcell got Taurek to ground into a fielder's choice, but then Stankiewicz made the intriguing decision to pull the right-handed Purcell, the Trojans' workhorse out of the 'pen all season, in favor of left-hander Caden Hunter despite a right-handed hitter due up. Advertisement Hunter, who had worked as a starter until the last couple weeks, struck out Saint Mary's cleanup hitter Ryan Pierce on a 95-mph fastball after pumping multiple 96- and 97-mph offerings — his hardest pitches of the season — earlier in the count. The Trojans added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning before Hunter dismissed Saint Mary's final three batters to collect his first Division I save. USC advances to the Sunday night regional final at 7 p.m. where it will await the winner of Sunday afternoon's 3 p.m. matchup between top-seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed Saint Mary's. If USC were to lose Sunday night's game, a winner-take-all game would be played Monday. USC's Abbrie Covarrubias tags out Saint Mary's Cody Kashimoto on a stolen base attempt on Saturday. (Shotgun Spratling / For The Times) Sign up for more USC news with Times of Troy. In your inbox every Monday morning. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
