University Southern California Trojans
Tuesday, February 25
Fullerton, Calif.
6:00 PM
USC
at
Cal State Fullerton
Players Mentioned
OF
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LHP
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INF
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RHP
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RHP
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LHP
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OF
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RHP
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RHP
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LHP
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RHP
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LHP
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INF/OF
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C/1B
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INF
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Photo by: David Cohen
Baseball Heads to Fullerton, Hosts Exhibition Against Keio University
February 24, 2020 | Baseball, Features
THIS WEEK: The USC baseball team hits the road for a midweek matchup at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday and then returns home to host Keio University from Japan for an exhibition on Wednesday.
GAME SCHEDULE:
Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton (Fullerton, Calif.), Feb. 25, 6 p.m. (USC Audio)
Wednesday vs. Keio University (Dedeaux Field), Feb. 26, 6 p.m.
BROADCAST INFO: Tuesday's game will have an audio stream via Tune In network and USCTrojans.com. There will be no stream for Wednesday's game.
FOLLOW: Fans can also follow the action on Tuesday through live stats on USCTrojans.com. Live, in-game updates will be available for both games from @USC_Baseball on Twitter as well.
GET SOCIAL: Follow USC Baseball on social media to get updates on everything going on with the team this season. The Trojans can be found at @USC_Baseball on Twitter, @sctrojans_baseball on Instagram and USC Trojans Baseball on Facebook.
A NEW ERA BEGINS: The Trojans open the 2020 season with a new manager at the helm in collegiate coaching veteran Jason Gill. Gill was hired this past June to replace Dan Hubbs, whose contract was not renewed after seven seasons. A 25-year veteran of the college coaching ranks, Gill is the fifth USC head coach since the famed Rod Dedeaux retired in 1986. He comes to USC after 11 years at the helm for Loyola Marymount and a postseason run into the finals of the UCLA regional last season.
SERIES VS CSUF: Titans lead 54-45-1 | Last meeting: 2019 | Note: The teams split their season series last year, with both teams winning at home. The Titans and Trojans are 5-5 in their last 10 meetings.
FULLERTON CONNECTION: The Trojan coaching staff has a strong connection to Cal State Fullerton, with coaches Jason Gill, Ted Silva and Bobby Andrews all alums of the program. Head Coach Gill also coached their as an undergraduate assistant under Augie Garrido and as a full-time assistant under George Horton.
WEDNESDAY EXHIBITION: The Trojan play Keio University in Wednesday's exhibition. Keio University is located in Tokyo and plays in the Big6 league, which is considered the top collegiate league in the country.
LAST WEEK: The Trojans won 2-of-3 games at the Tony Gwynn Classic, beating Seattle in the opener before falling to Southern Illinois and then closing with a win against tournament host San Diego State. USC made a thrilling comeback in the final game after falling behind 5-0, scoring 11 unanswered runs in the final five innings.
PLAYER NOTES:
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Including defending national champs Vanderbilt, USC faces seven teams that made it to the 2019 postseason this year (TCU, Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, Arizona State and UCLA). Four Trojan opponents finished last year in the Top 25 (Vanderbilt-No. 1, UCLA-No. 8, Stanford-No. 10, Oregon State-No. 23) and two others were receiving votes at the end of the year (Arizona State, Cal). Of the Trojans' 24 opponents, 13 finished with records better than .500.
TOP PROSPECTS: D1Baseball.com released its Pac-12 prospect rankings and impact freshmen lists, and nine USC baseball players were named to the lists. The prospect rankings included lists for the 2020 and 2021 drafts, to go along with the Top 30 impact freshmen in the conference. In addition, Kyle Hurt was named the No. 98 draft prospect nationally by MLB Pipeline.
2020 Draft Prospects: No. 14 – RHP Kyle Hurt, No. 17 – RHP Chandler Champlain, No. 20 – SS Ben Ramirez, No. 23 – 3B Jamal O'Guinn, No. 39 – LHP Alex Cornwell, No. 50 – LHP John Beller
2021 Draft Prospects: No. 26 – RHP Carson Lambert, No. 38 – OF Preston Hartsell
Impact Freshmen: No. 29 – OF/INF Tyresse Turner
DRAFTED: The Trojans lost seven players to last year's MLB Draft, and had one more sign as a free agent immediately following the draft. Chris Clarke was taken in the fourth round by the Cubs, Blake Sabol in the seventh round by the Pirates, CJ Stubbs in the 10th round by the Astros, Connor Lunn in the 11th round by the Cardinals, Matthew Acosta in the 12th round by the Padres, Austin Manning in the 19th round by the Royals and Augie Sylk in the 38th round by the Royals. Chase Bushor also signed as a free agent with the Royals. It was the most players selected for the Trojans since 12 USC players were taken in the 2016 draft.
LAST YEAR: The Trojans went 25-29-1 overall last year and 13-15-1 in conference play, finishing seventh in the Pac-12 and missing the postseason.
USC TO THE MLB: No other school can claim a larger number of alumni who have made it to the big leagues, with 114 Trojans having played in the MLB. The list includes three Trojans who have made it to the MLB Hall of Fame (Randy Johnson, Tom Seaver, Pat Gillick), nine Cy Young Awards (Johnson 5 times, Seaver 3 times, Barry Zito once), three Rookie of the Years (Seaver, Fred Lynn, Mark McGwire), one American League MVP (Lynn), one World Series MVP (Johnson), 29 World Series appearances and 67 All-Star Game appearances. In all, 340 Trojans have been selected in the MLB Draft.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: The Trojans have an unparalleled history of championship success at the College World Series, winning 12 total national titles (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1998). The 12 titles are double any other team in the country and were won in 21 CWS appearances by the Trojans. USC won five straight NCAA Championships from 1970-74, a feat no other program has accomplished.
GAME SCHEDULE:
Tuesday at Cal State Fullerton (Fullerton, Calif.), Feb. 25, 6 p.m. (USC Audio)
Wednesday vs. Keio University (Dedeaux Field), Feb. 26, 6 p.m.
BROADCAST INFO: Tuesday's game will have an audio stream via Tune In network and USCTrojans.com. There will be no stream for Wednesday's game.
FOLLOW: Fans can also follow the action on Tuesday through live stats on USCTrojans.com. Live, in-game updates will be available for both games from @USC_Baseball on Twitter as well.
GET SOCIAL: Follow USC Baseball on social media to get updates on everything going on with the team this season. The Trojans can be found at @USC_Baseball on Twitter, @sctrojans_baseball on Instagram and USC Trojans Baseball on Facebook.
A NEW ERA BEGINS: The Trojans open the 2020 season with a new manager at the helm in collegiate coaching veteran Jason Gill. Gill was hired this past June to replace Dan Hubbs, whose contract was not renewed after seven seasons. A 25-year veteran of the college coaching ranks, Gill is the fifth USC head coach since the famed Rod Dedeaux retired in 1986. He comes to USC after 11 years at the helm for Loyola Marymount and a postseason run into the finals of the UCLA regional last season.
SERIES VS CSUF: Titans lead 54-45-1 | Last meeting: 2019 | Note: The teams split their season series last year, with both teams winning at home. The Titans and Trojans are 5-5 in their last 10 meetings.
FULLERTON CONNECTION: The Trojan coaching staff has a strong connection to Cal State Fullerton, with coaches Jason Gill, Ted Silva and Bobby Andrews all alums of the program. Head Coach Gill also coached their as an undergraduate assistant under Augie Garrido and as a full-time assistant under George Horton.
WEDNESDAY EXHIBITION: The Trojan play Keio University in Wednesday's exhibition. Keio University is located in Tokyo and plays in the Big6 league, which is considered the top collegiate league in the country.
LAST WEEK: The Trojans won 2-of-3 games at the Tony Gwynn Classic, beating Seattle in the opener before falling to Southern Illinois and then closing with a win against tournament host San Diego State. USC made a thrilling comeback in the final game after falling behind 5-0, scoring 11 unanswered runs in the final five innings.
PLAYER NOTES:
- After battling through injuries the past two seasons, Alex Cornwell impressed in his debut on the mound, throwing 5.2 innings against Western Michigan. He picked up the win giving up three hits and two runs while striking out six batters and walking two.
- Johnny Olmstead had an explosive start to his collegiate career, hitting a pinch-hit grand slam against Western Michigan in his first ever at-bat as a Trojan.
- Ben Ramirez posted the first two-homer game of his career, hitting two balls off the right field scoreboard against the Broncos. He also hit a key three-run triple to spark USC's comeback against San Diego State. Ramirez leads the team with 8 RBI on the year.
- Grad transfer Ben Wanger leads the team with a .583 average and has also posted 2.0 scoreless relief innings on the mound.
- Clay Owens has a team-high 8 hits this year and is second with 7 RBI.
- Jamal O'Guinn has worked 8 walks in 22 plate appearances for a team-best .682 on-base percentage. He is also batting .417 on the year.
- Kyle Hurt and John Beller combined to hold Seattle to one run on Friday, striking out a season-best 14 batters in the game. Hurt leads the team with 14 strikeouts on the year, while Beller is second with 12.
- USC got 5.1 scoreless innings from its bullpen in the comeback win over SDSU, getting contributions from Carson Lambert, Ethan Hoopingarner, Quentin Longrie, Chandler Champlain and Ben Wanger.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Including defending national champs Vanderbilt, USC faces seven teams that made it to the 2019 postseason this year (TCU, Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, Arizona State and UCLA). Four Trojan opponents finished last year in the Top 25 (Vanderbilt-No. 1, UCLA-No. 8, Stanford-No. 10, Oregon State-No. 23) and two others were receiving votes at the end of the year (Arizona State, Cal). Of the Trojans' 24 opponents, 13 finished with records better than .500.
TOP PROSPECTS: D1Baseball.com released its Pac-12 prospect rankings and impact freshmen lists, and nine USC baseball players were named to the lists. The prospect rankings included lists for the 2020 and 2021 drafts, to go along with the Top 30 impact freshmen in the conference. In addition, Kyle Hurt was named the No. 98 draft prospect nationally by MLB Pipeline.
2020 Draft Prospects: No. 14 – RHP Kyle Hurt, No. 17 – RHP Chandler Champlain, No. 20 – SS Ben Ramirez, No. 23 – 3B Jamal O'Guinn, No. 39 – LHP Alex Cornwell, No. 50 – LHP John Beller
2021 Draft Prospects: No. 26 – RHP Carson Lambert, No. 38 – OF Preston Hartsell
Impact Freshmen: No. 29 – OF/INF Tyresse Turner
DRAFTED: The Trojans lost seven players to last year's MLB Draft, and had one more sign as a free agent immediately following the draft. Chris Clarke was taken in the fourth round by the Cubs, Blake Sabol in the seventh round by the Pirates, CJ Stubbs in the 10th round by the Astros, Connor Lunn in the 11th round by the Cardinals, Matthew Acosta in the 12th round by the Padres, Austin Manning in the 19th round by the Royals and Augie Sylk in the 38th round by the Royals. Chase Bushor also signed as a free agent with the Royals. It was the most players selected for the Trojans since 12 USC players were taken in the 2016 draft.
LAST YEAR: The Trojans went 25-29-1 overall last year and 13-15-1 in conference play, finishing seventh in the Pac-12 and missing the postseason.
USC TO THE MLB: No other school can claim a larger number of alumni who have made it to the big leagues, with 114 Trojans having played in the MLB. The list includes three Trojans who have made it to the MLB Hall of Fame (Randy Johnson, Tom Seaver, Pat Gillick), nine Cy Young Awards (Johnson 5 times, Seaver 3 times, Barry Zito once), three Rookie of the Years (Seaver, Fred Lynn, Mark McGwire), one American League MVP (Lynn), one World Series MVP (Johnson), 29 World Series appearances and 67 All-Star Game appearances. In all, 340 Trojans have been selected in the MLB Draft.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: The Trojans have an unparalleled history of championship success at the College World Series, winning 12 total national titles (1948, 1958, 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1998). The 12 titles are double any other team in the country and were won in 21 CWS appearances by the Trojans. USC won five straight NCAA Championships from 1970-74, a feat no other program has accomplished.
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