Dual aces Mason Edwards, Grant Govel make USC tough out in NCAA Tournament

They were two Southern California kids who wanted to restore a legacy when they met on their official visit as USC pitching prospects four years ago.

Mason Edwards was just starting to show promise as a left-hander with a sharp breaking ball and improving fastball.

Grant Govel had recently undergone Tommy John surgery, leaving the right-hander on the verge of a gap year before joining the team.

Rooming together on that visit, they hit it off immediately.

“It was cool,” Edwards told The California Post. “It was like, ‘What up? My name’s Mason. Let’s have some fun here.’ ”

Who could have known just how much?

The duo has become perhaps the nation’s top 1-2 starting pitching punch for a team intent on ending its 25-year College World Series drought.

Edwards is the college baseball strikeout king, having set a Big Ten record with 113 strikeouts in conference play and leading the nation with 160 overall — the most by a USC pitcher since Mark Prior piled up 202 in 2001.

Having fully recovered from his surgery, Govel is the equivalent of a second ace, baffling hitters with his repertoire of six pitches.

“When Mason’s out there on Friday nights, you’ve got a lot to live up to,” USC pitching coach Sean Allen said, referring to Edwards’ featured spot in the rotation, “but I’ll be honest, Grant’s done that pretty much the entire year.” 

Together they’ve gone a combined 18-2 while helping the Trojans notch 10 shutouts — more than any other team in the nation — going into the College Station Regional of the NCAA Tournament. USC (43-15) opens play against Texas State (36-24) on Friday evening in College Station, Texas, with Texas A&M and Lamar looming as the other possible opponents.

Reflecting his starters’ interchangeability, USC coach Andy Stankiewicz has elected to go with Govel in Game 1 of the Regional while preserving Edwards for Game 2.

The pitchers’ similar results have come by vastly different means.

Edwards throws a fastball that averages 92 mph along with a changeup and curveball that have helped him go 8-0 with a 1.43 ERA. His breaking pitch acts differently depending on which side of the plate he throws it toward. 

“It’s just two manipulations of one pitch,” said Edwards, a junior who might be a first-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft this summer.

Govel, a sophomore, recently added a two-seam fastball to an arsenal that also includes a four-seam fastball, changeup, slider, curveball and cutter. That variety keeps hitters guessing, often to their own detriment against a pitcher who has gone 10-2 with a 2.84 ERA.

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“Having three or more pitches that you can command,” said Govel, who talks about his pitches like a proud father discussing his children, “is something that honestly puts hitters in a bad spot mentally, and when they come up to the plate, they’re not hunting a single pitch because maybe I won’t throw that pitch to them.”

With the duo following one superb outing with another, USC raced to a 19-0 record, the best start in the history of a program that’s captured 12 national titles. The pitchers pushed one another to perform by virtue of a shared belief in the other’s abilities.

“When I go out and give the team success,” said Edwards, whose ERA ranks second in the country, “I come off the mound and I’m like, ‘OK, there’s no doubt in my mind that Grant’s going to go out and do the same thing.’ ”

Both pitchers were drawn to USC in large part because of its history of baseball success behind a litany of legendary pitchers such as Prior, Randy Johnson and Tom Seaver.

When he was in elementary school, Govel wrote a letter saying he would go to USC — as a soccer player, never mind that the school didn’t have a men’s soccer team.

“A mistake,” Govel said with a chuckle, “but I meant to say baseball. I’m just a diehard USC fan — my mom went here.”

After building a batting cage in his backyard during the pandemic, he switched full time from soccer to baseball, initially as an outfielder before switching to pitcher.

Edwards’ rise to stardom also included a twist.

Though he was always going to be coveted by colleges as a left-hander, Edwards’ career received a major boost from a future rival.

When Edwards was in high school, his friend Justin Lee — now a UCLA reliever — connected him with Josh Goossen-Brown, a junior college coach who helped develop Edwards’ fastball before later joining the prodigy as USC’s director of player development.

“My mechanics were very rusty at the time,” Edwards said, “and he was just able to teach me a lot more about moving efficiently and really how to use my body better.” 

Look at him now — the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, joined on the all-conference first team by his fellow starter and former roommate.

Let’s have some fun?

The NCAA Tournament could be one long joyride for the Trojans thanks to these two.