Three pitches into its first at-bat, USC had the lead.
Several batters – and two more homers – later, the Trojans were up by four runs.
Before some fans could settle into their seats Thursday night at Dedeaux Field, USC’s surging offense had put on another dazzling display.
The early onslaught was more than enough on a night that Trojans ace Mason Edwards continued his own dominant run.
With everything working in its favor, No. 18 USC rolled to an 8-0 victory over Nevada that gave the Trojans a fifth consecutive win.
The most encouraging development was undoubtedly the sustained offensive awakening.
Adrian Lopez, Jack Basseer, Andrew Lamb and Walter Urbon homered for USC (39-12), which has scored double-digit runs in three of its last four games while averaging 11 runs along the way.
That’s something for a team that entered the game ranked No. 7 in the Big Ten Conference in homers, No. 8 in runs scored and No. 9 in batting average.
“It’s the perfect match,” Basseer said, “because our pitching is still doing what they’ve always done and the hitters are really doing a great job scoring runs.”
The only downside for the Trojans was that they couldn’t add to the 8-0 lead they took in the third inning. They stranded seven baserunners over the next five innings and struck out 14 times for the game.
“We went five straight goose eggs to finish the game,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said, “so we’ve got to be better from that side of it, but it was a great start, absolutely.”
Edwards (8-0) and three relievers combined on a seven-hit shutout after left-hander Ben Cushnie inherited – and escaped – a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh inning.
“That was huge,” Basseer said. “You’re expecting a minimum [of] one run to come in, and to strike out two guys and get weak contact on the third out is huge.”
It was the Trojans’ ninth shutout of the season.
What it means
USC improved to an astounding 30-1 at home this season in its return to the renovated Dedeaux Field while boosting its hopes to host an NCAA Tournament Regional.
Sixteen teams are selected as Regional hosts, and the Trojans remain firmly in the running.
Turning point
Lopez homered on the third pitch he saw as part of a three-homer, four-run explosion for the Trojans in the bottom of the first inning.
With two out, Basseer crushed a two-run homer on a full-count curveball before Lamb smashed the next pitch to complete the early offensive explosion.
“It’s good to set the tone for the pitchers and let them know that they have a little lead to work with,” Basseer said. “It’s just being relentless up there and not giving away any pitches or any at-bats.”
Did you see that?
Lopez, the Trojans first baseman, made the defensive play of the game with a diving stop of a ball headed inside the foul line in the second inning before flipping to Edwards for the out.
MVP
Edwards gave up only four hits over six shutout innings, lowering his earned-run average to 1.61.
The junior left-hander piled up 10 strikeouts and allowed only two runners to reach scoring position, stranding both.
Edwards’ 142 strikeouts this season rank ninth in school history.
Up next
The Trojans continue their series against Nevada with games at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
