Long Ball Leads Trojans Past George Washington, 9-8

Saturday, February 15

Irvine, Calif.

2:00 PM

USC

2-0

George Washington

0-2

George Washington

USC

Photo by: Alex Feinstein

Long Ball Leads Trojans Past George Washington, 9-8

February 15, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

IRVINE, Calif. – The USC baseball team hit four homers to outpace George Washington, 9-8, taking the series with a second straight win and setting up a chance to open the season with a series sweep on Sunday.

A day after putting up 15 runs without the help of a long ball, the Trojans scored eight of their nine runs via homer on Saturday, getting a grand slam from Adrian Lopez, two homers from Kade Higgins and a solo-shot from Ethan Hedges.

Lopez's slam came in the bottom of the first inning to give the Trojans a 4-0 advantage, and despite the back-and-forth nature of the contest, USC never trailed the rest of the way. Higgins first homer in the third was a two-run blast that answered a two-run second inning by George Washington. The Revolutionaries came back with a two-run homer of their own in the fourth, but Hedges' solo-homer in the fifth made it 7-4.

George Washington cut it to a one-run game with a two-run single in the sixth, but that was followed by an RBI fielder's choice from Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek in the bottom half of the inning, and Higgins capped the USC scoring with his second homer of the day in the seventh, making it 9-6.

The visitors scored twice in the top of the eighth to cut it to a one-run deficit for the third time on the day, but Hedges wasn't finished with his heroics as he took the mound and tossed a scoreless ninth to close it out.

Mason Edwards picked up the win on the mound, tossing 3.0 relief innings after taking over to start the fifth. He allowed two runs on four hits, while striking out four and walking one. Hedges had a strikeout to start the ninth, then got a groundout and lineout to end the game. It was the junior right-hander's first appearance on the mound as a Trojan.

TOP PERFORMERS

Kade Higgins: 4-for-4, 3 RBI, 2R, 2 HR
Adrian Lopez: 2-for-4, 4 RBI, R, GS
Kevin Takeuchi: 3-for-5, 2R, 3B
Ethan Hedges: 1-for-4, RBI, 2R, HR / S, 1.0 IP, 0H, 0R, K
Mason Edwards: W, 3.0 IP, 4H, 2R, BB, 4K

COMING UP
USC and George Washington wrap things up on Sunday at 1 p.m. The series finale will be at Great Park and will be broadcast live on B1G+. A reminder to fans, all USC home games this season are free and open to the public.