USC Baseball Opens Season on Friday at Great Park

THIS WEEK: The USC baseball team begins the 2025 season on Friday at Great Park in Irvine, opening a three-game series against George Washington.

GAME SCHEDULE:
Friday - USC vs. George Washington (Irvine, Calif), Feb 14, 6:30 pm (B1G+)
Saturday - USC vs. George Washington (Irvine, Calif.), Feb 15, 2 pm (B1G+)
Sunday - USC vs. George Washington (Irvine, Calif.), Feb 16, 1 pm (B1G+)

PROBABLE PITCHERS:
Friday - USC: LHP Caden Hunter vs. GW: LHP Michael Foltz
Saturday - USC: RHP Caden Aoki vs. GW: LHP Teddy Brennen
Sunday - USC: RHP Jackson Baker vs. GW: LHP Shugy Klein

BROADCAST INFO: All three games against George Washington will be broadcast on B1G+. Links to the broadcasts are available on the baseball schedule page at USCTrojans.com.

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 followed at @USC_Baseball on X, at @sctrojans_baseball on Instagram and USC Trojans Baseball on Facebook.

PROMOTIONS: The first 500 fans at Friday night's season opener will receive a free USC throw blanket. Check out USCTrojans.com/baseballgameday for a list of all of this season's promotions.

CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCHES: USC will have ceremonial first pitches thrown out by a pair of Trojan alums prior to Friday and Saturday's games. Austin Overn will throw out the first pitch on Friday and Johnny Olmstead will throw the first pitch on Saturday.

2025 HOME GAMES: For the second season in a row, USC will play the majority of its home games at Great Park in Irvine due to construction on the new Dedeaux Field, which is scheduled to be completed prior to the 2026 season. Most midweek games will be held at LMU. All USC home games this season will be free and open to the public. For more information visit USCTrojans.com/baseballgameday.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS GW: George Washington plays in the Atlantic 10 conference, and this will be the first ever meeting between the Trojans and Revolutionaries on the diamond.

THE STANK EFFECT: 2025 will be Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz's third year at the helm for the Trojans. Stankiewicz became the Trojan's manager after a disappointing 2022 season, and in his first two seasons has turned in two 30+ win campaigns, the first time the Trojans have had back to back 30-win seasons since the 2001 and 2002 seasons under Hall-of-Fame Coach Mike Gillespie. The Trojans finished 4th in the Pac-12 with 17 conference wins in both 2023 and 2024, the first time with 17 or more league wins in back to back seasons since 2001 and 2002 as well. USC has seen eight players signed or drafted in the last two years, with Austin Overn being the Trojans' highest draft pick since 2014.

2024 PLAYER NOTES:

Dean Carpentier returns for his sophmore seasons after hitting .287 with 4 HR, 12 exra base hits, and 26 RBI. He added a total of 26 BB/HBP and recorded a .987 fielding percentage at 1B for the Trojans.
Caden Aoki made 11 starts his junior season, recording a 3.91 ERA and 50 K in 53.0 IP. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament team after a stellar performance in the championship game against Arizona, where he took a no-hitter into the 7th, going 6.1 innings with 8 strikeouts and only 1 earned run. Aoki was ranked the 51st starting pitcher in the nation by D1Baseball heading into the season.
Brayden Dowd returns after an impressive freshman year where he slashed .324/.401/.400 with 6 2B and 26 runs scored. He drew 21 walks and scored 26 runs in 2024 while ranking 6th in the Pac-12 with 5 sacrifice flies and had 16 multiple-hit games. He was named to the Pac-12 All Tournament team after having 6 hits, 8 RBI, and 3 extra base hits in the Trojans' 4 tournament games.
Michael Ebner returns with the second most innings on the mound for the Trojans last season with 39 IP. The Junior made 23 appearances with 3 starts last season, striking out 38 with a 1.51 WHIP. Ebner also excelled this summer in the Cape Cod League, earning Cape League All-Star recognition.
Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek returns after being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 20th round. He started 19 of his 20 game appearances last season and posted a slash line of .284/.369/.405. He had 6 multiple-hit games, including twice where he tallied 3 hits. He finished the year strong, having hits in 10 of his last 11 games as well as hitting .375 in the Pac-12 tournament.
Kevin Takeuchi posted a slash line of .289/.367/.472 and led the team with the most 3-hit games on the season (6). He recorded 14 multiple-hit games, 17 doubles and 40 RBI. He hit a pair of home runs in a game against Arizona early in the season, finished the season ranked 6th in the Pac-12 with 5 sacrifice flies, and ranked 7th with 0.33 doubles per game. Takeuchi played Summer Ball in the West Coast League and was named the WCL's Top Prospect.

2024 TEAM NOTES:

USC's 31 wins last year was just the third time since 2005 the Trojans eclipsed the 30-win mark (2024, 2023, 2015).
The Trojans finished 12-11 on the road last season season, which was the first time the program was over .500 since 2015 (the last time USC made a regional), excluding the 2020 shortened season.
USC's 9 game winning streak to end the regular season and into the Pac-12 tournament was the longest winning streak for the program since 2015.
USC's pitching staff posted 497 strikeouts in 2024, which was good for the 6th most in program history. Their team ERA of 4.87 was also 4th best in the Pac-12.
The Trojans slugged for 113 doubles last season which was good for 4th most in the Pac-12, in addition to their 18 triples which was the 3rd most in the conference.

INCOMING CLASS: USC welcomed the 20th-ranked recruiting class in the nation this offseason according to Perfect game. With 25 new players on the roster, 11 were ranked in the Top 10 at their position in their state, seven were in the Top 5 and five were in the Top 25 overall in their state. In California, USC had 11 players ranked in the Top 20 at their position including the third overall outfielder (Matthew Priest), fifth overall catcher (Augie Lopez) and fifth overall shortstop (Maximo Martinez). The incoming USC class features eight transfers and 17 incoming freshmen.

B1G SEASON: USC is playing in its first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. USC announced in June of 2022 that the school would be making a move to the Big Ten. UCLA, Washington and Oregon also announced they would be moving to the conference with the Trojans. USC baseball will open up conference play at home in Irvine against Oregon, March 7-9. The Big Ten Tournament will be held in Omaha, Neb. at Charles Schwab Field, May 20-25.

ALLEN'S ARMS: USC brought on a new pitching coach to work with the arms this offseason, hiring Sean Allen in June. The 2021 National Assistant Coach of the Year, Allen has three trips to Omaha under his belt as he comes to USC after two seasons at Ohio State and six seasons at Texas prior to that. Consistently regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country, Allen was named D1Baseball's 2021 Assistant Coach of the Year. His 2022 hiring at Ohio State ranked No. 4 in the outlet's Top 30 Assistant Coach Hires, and he was named to the list of 100 Assistant Coaches Athletic Directors Should Know after the 2023 season. In his 22 seasons as an assistant coach (not counting the shortened 2020 season), Allen's teams have made the postseason 14 times, including three appearances in the College World Series.

TROJANS DRAFTED: Austin Overn, William Watson, Josh Blum, Ryan Jackson, and Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek were all selected last July in the 2024 MLB Draft. Channing Austin and Xavier Martinez also signed minor league contracts with the Mets and Guardians respectively. Overn was selected 97th overall (3rd round) by the Orioles as a draft-eligible sophomore and Watson went to the Mets in the 7th round (203rd overall pick). The final day of the Draft saw Blum selected in the 16th round by the Mets, Jackson taken in the 17th round by the Padres and Martin-Grudsielanek taken by the Blue Jays in the 20th round. Only Martin-Grudzielanek declined to sign and returned to USC.

The draft selections extended USC's streak of having at least one player drafted every year since the MLB Draft was instituted in 1965 and gave the Trojans a total of 354 draft selections in their history.

BILL THOM HOF: The College Baseball Hall of Fame announced its 2024 class last September and USC great Bill Thom was among those to inducted. Thom finished his three years at USC with a 23-5 record and 165 strikeouts. He earned First-Team All-America honors in 1959 when he won 10 games with a 1.44 ERA and 58 strikeouts. Thom was USC's first-ever College World Series Most Outstanding Player when he led Troy to the 1958 national championship. In the semifinal game vs Missouri, he tossed a three-hit shutout to force the decisive game. The next night, he returned to the mound in the 8th inning of a 7-7 tie and threw another 4.1 scoreless innings to seal the victory. Thom recorded a career-high 76 strikeouts in 1958. He received First-Team All-CIBA honors in 1958 and 1959 and made All-District VIII in 1958. Thom was inducted into the USC Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Thom is the ninth player in Trojan history named to the Hall since its inception in 2006. He joins Rod Dedeaux (2006), Fred Lynn (2007), Roy Smalley (2013), Bill Bordley (2014), Wally Hood (2019), Rich Dauer (2021), Art Mazmanian (2022) and Steve Kemp (2023).

USC TO THE MLB: No other school can claim a larger number of alumni who have made it to the big leagues, with 120 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, 354 Trojans have been selected in the MLB Draft. Kyle Hurt was the latest Trojan to break through to the Bigs, making his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 12, 2023.

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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Players Mentioned

Caden Aoki

Channing Austin

Jackson Baker

Josh Blum

Dean Carpentier

Brayden Dowd

Michael Ebner

Caden Hunter

Ryan Jackson

Augie Lopez

Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek

Maximo Martinez

Xavier Martinez

Austin Overn

Matthew Priest

Kevin Takeuchi

William Watson