Sunday, February 23
Houston, Texas
11:00 AM
USC
6-1
3
at
4
Rice
2-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
USC
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
3
6
1
Rice
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
4
8
2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garrett Stratton (1-0)
L: Purcell, Brodie (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Dowd, Brayden 2
RBI: Dowd, Brayden 2 ; Lopez, Adrian 1
SF: Dowd, Brayden 1 ; Lopez, Adrian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hedges, Ethan 1 ; Covarrubias, Abbrie 2
SB: Dowd, Brayden 1 ; Lopez, Adrian 1
HBP: Higgins, Kade 1 ; Lopez, Adrian 1
Batting:
2B: Blaine Brown 1
HR: Tobias Motley 1 ; Michael Zito 1
RBI: Gunnet Carlson 1 ; Tobias Motley 1 ; Michael Zito 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Treyton Rank 1 ; Gunnet Carlson 1 ; Tobias Motley 1 ; Michael Zito 1
SB: Hiram Bocachica Jr. 1
PO: Hiram Bocachica Jr. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
Photo by: Chris Mora
USC Baseball Suffers First Loss on Walkoff at Rice
February 23, 2025 | Baseball
HOUSTON, Texas – The USC baseball team tied the game in the ninth inning, but Rice walked it off on a homer by Michael Zito in the bottom half of the inning to hand the Trojans their first loss of the year, 4-3.
USC falls to 6-1 on the season, while Rice improves to 2-4.
After winning the opener in 11 innings, the Trojans looked to once again have the magic on Sunday when Brayden Dowd hit a game-tying sac fly in the top of the ninth, but Zito took the first pitch of the bottom half of the inning over the left field wall to win it for the home team.
After giving up a pair of runs early, only one of which was earned, Caden Aoki settled in and worked into the sixth inning to allow USC to tie the game up. In his final 4.2 innings of work, Aoki faced just one over the minimum, striking out five, walking none and allowing two singles, one of which was erased on a double play.
Trailing 2-0, Dowd cut it to a one-run game with an RBI double in the third and then Adrian Lopez tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Rice came back with a solo-homer by pinch hitter Tobias Motley in the seventh inning to grab the lead back. USC threatened in the eighth, loading the bases, but Garrett Stratton came in to get the inning-ending strikeout for the home team.
TOP PERFORMERS
COMING UP
The Trojans return home to Southern California for their next nine games, facing Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday and then facing UCONN, Vanderbilt and UCLA in the Southern California College Baseball Classic over the weekend. Tuesday's game will be on ESPN+, while all three of the weekend game will be broadcast on B1G+.
USC falls to 6-1 on the season, while Rice improves to 2-4.
After winning the opener in 11 innings, the Trojans looked to once again have the magic on Sunday when Brayden Dowd hit a game-tying sac fly in the top of the ninth, but Zito took the first pitch of the bottom half of the inning over the left field wall to win it for the home team.
After giving up a pair of runs early, only one of which was earned, Caden Aoki settled in and worked into the sixth inning to allow USC to tie the game up. In his final 4.2 innings of work, Aoki faced just one over the minimum, striking out five, walking none and allowing two singles, one of which was erased on a double play.
Trailing 2-0, Dowd cut it to a one-run game with an RBI double in the third and then Adrian Lopez tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Rice came back with a solo-homer by pinch hitter Tobias Motley in the seventh inning to grab the lead back. USC threatened in the eighth, loading the bases, but Garrett Stratton came in to get the inning-ending strikeout for the home team.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Caden Aoki: 5.2 IP, 5H, ER, 0BB, 7K
- Brayden Dowd: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 2B, SF
COMING UP
The Trojans return home to Southern California for their next nine games, facing Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday and then facing UCONN, Vanderbilt and UCLA in the Southern California College Baseball Classic over the weekend. Tuesday's game will be on ESPN+, while all three of the weekend game will be broadcast on B1G+.
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