USC Baseball Faces Utah, Oregon in Pac-12 Tournament Pool Play

THIS WEEK: The USC baseball team opens pool play at the Pac-12 Tournament on Tuesday as they take on No. 7 seed Utah at 2:30 p.m. in Scottsdale. The No. 4 seed Trojans then take on No. 3 Oregon on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

GAME SCHEDULE:
Tuesday - USC vs. Utah (Scottsdale, Ariz.), May 21, 2:30 pm (Pac-12 Networks)
Thursday - USC vs. Oregon (Scottsdale, Ariz.), May 23, 2:30 pm (Pac-12 Networks)

PROBABLE PITCHERS:
Tuesday - USC: RHP Caden Aoki (2-3, 4.01 ERA) vs. UTAH: RHP Payton Riske (2-0, 5.25 ERA)
Thursday - USC: TBA vs. ORE: TBA

PAC-12 TOURNAMENT: The Pac-12 Tournament will run from May 21-25 at Scottsdale Stadium, with pool play the first three days, the semifinals on Friday and the final on Saturday.

BROADCAST INFO: All games at the Pac-12 Tournament will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks. Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements will have the call for both of the Trojans' pool play matchups.

FOLLOW: Fans can also follow the action through live stats on USCTrojans.com. Live, in-game updates will be available for all games from @USC_Baseball on X 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 X, @sctrojans_baseball on Instagram and USC Trojans Baseball on Facebook.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS UTAH: USC owns a 29-16 all-time record against the Utes, dating back to 1951. USC took 2-of-3 in Utah last season, winning the first two games before dropping the finale. Tyler Stromsborg tossed a complete-game shutout in the opener last season. USC and Utah are coming off a three-game series this past week in Irvine, with the Trojans picking up a three-game sweep.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS OREGON: USC is 18-24 all-time against Oregon. The Trojans took two out of three against the Ducks last season, winning games one and three of the series at Dedeaux Field in May 2023. It was the Ducks who took two of three when the teams met in Eugene this season, with Oregon winning the first two games and USC taking the series finale.

LAST WEEK VS UTAH: The Trojans closed out the regular season with a sweep of Utah at home last week, pushing their winning streak to a season-high six games heading into the Pac-12 Tournament. USC used a four-run eighth inning to win the opener, erasing a 4-2 deficit to win 6-5. The Trojans then led wire to wire in the final two contests, holding Utah to two runs on five hits in an 8-2 win in game two, and then three runs on six hits in the 5-3 series finale win.

STREAKING: USC comes into the postseason on a six-game winning streak, the longest of the season for the Trojans. USC won the final two games of its series at Washington State, beat Gonzaga on the road in a midweek contest, and then swept Utah at home. Over that span, USC is giving up an average of 3.3 runs per game, while scoring 8.8 runs per game.

SEASON RECAP: USC had a slow start to the season, playing to a 7-13 record (.350 winning percentage) through the first month of the year. From then on, the Trojans have won gone 21-14 (.600 winning percentage) to climb above .500 for the regular season. The Trojans won five Pac-12 series this season, including sweeps of Washington, Utah and Oregon State (two games). USC has five wins over ranked opponents this season.

CONTINUING TO BUILD: The Trojans are continuing the rebuild process under second-year head coach Andy Stankiewicz, finishing fourth in the conference and with 17 Pac-12 wins for the second straight season. The back-to-back 17-win seasons in the conference are the first since 2001 and 2002 under Hall of Fame coach Mike Gillespie. The consecutive fourth place finishes mark the first time USC has finished in the top four in the conference in back-to-back seasons since 2014 and 2015 (USC's last regional appearance).

PLAYER/TEAM NOTES:

The Austin Overn triple machine keeps rolling as he has five triples this season, good for 3rd in the Pac-12 and 17th most in the country. Overn set USC's single season triples as a freshman last year with 14, and is now just one away from tying the USC's career record at 20 (Grant Green 2007-09).
Jacob Galloway has been USC's offensive catalyst since the start of the season, hitting .301 on the year with a team-high 40 RBI. Galloway also leads the team with a .876 OPS. He owns 12 Multi-hit games, 9 multi-RBI games and had a 22 game hitting streak earlier this year.
Ryan Jackson has become USC's most consistent offensive producer over the course of the year. He owns a .315 batting average and leads USC with 68 hits. His 22 multi-hit games are the most of any Trojan, and his 10 multi-RBI games are second on the team.
Xavier Martinez leads USC with 28 pitching appearances this year, good for 1st in the Pac-12 and 25th in the country. He owns a 2.08 ERA in 43.1 innings pitched, with opponents hitting .176 against him.
Trojan closer Josh Blum has struck out 41 batters in just 28.2 innings pitched this year, holding opponents to a .124 batting average. He has 7 saves on the year, good for 4th in the Pac-12, and owns a 1.88 ERA.
Tyler Stromsborg's 2.15 walks/9 this season is the third best average in the Pac-12. Stromsborg tossed 6.0 innings and gave up no earned runs in the season finale vs. Utah, and two starts prior, tossed 7.0 scoreless innings against Cal.
William Watson has developed into USC's most consistent starter on the mound after beginning the season out of the bullpen. His last 8 appearances have been starts after 7 relief appearances early on, and in his last 6 starts, Watson has thrown at least 5.0 innings each time. Over the last 6 starts, he has given up more than 3 runs only twice (both times 4 runs), with USC going 4-2 in games he starts over that span.
Caden Aoki missed some time due to injury through the middle of the season, but has been back for two starts heading into the Pac-12 Tournament, increasing his workload each time. He threw 2.0 scoreless innings against Washington State (5/11) and 4.0 scoreless innings against Utah (5/16). He has allowed 3 hits and no walks in his 6.0 innings back.

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Players Mentioned

Caden Aoki

Josh Blum

Jacob Galloway

Ryan Jackson

Xavier Martinez

Austin Overn

Tyler Stromsborg

William Watson