Saturday, March 1
Irvine, Calif.
2:00 PM
USC
9-1
3
vs
1
Vanderbilt
9-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Vanderbilt
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
USC
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
X
3
5
1
Photo by: Alex Feinstein
Aoki's Gem Leads Trojans Past No. 14 Vanderbilt, 3-1
March 01, 2025 | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. – Caden Aoki's seven-inning gem led the USC baseball team past No. 14 Vanderbilt, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Great Park, moving USC to 9-1 on the year.
Aoki struck out a career-high 10 batters and gave up just one unearned run in his 7.0 innings of work to hand the Commodores their second loss of the year. Vanderbilt falls to 9-2 overall.
The Trojans gave Aoki two early runs of support, going up 2-0 in the third behind an RBI double from Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek and a sacrifice fly from Dean Carpentier. Abbrie Covarrubias added USC's third run with a sac fly of his own in the sixth.
Aoki did not allow a run until the seventh inning when a runner reached on a throwing error and later scored on a groundout. The Trojan right-hander scattered four hits on the day and walked just one batter.
Mason Edwards kept it rolling on the mound in the eighth, setting the side down in order with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Edwards got the first two outs of the ninth inning and after a two-out single to center field, Ethan Hedges was brought in to face a righty for the final out. Hedges got a strikeout to earn his fourth save of the year and finish off a masterful day on the mound for the USC pitching staff.
The Trojan arms finished with 14 strikeouts, one walk and five hits allowed. Martin-Grudzielanek led the way at the plate with two hits and Hedges moved his season-opening hitting streak to 10 games with a double.
TOP PERFORMERS
COMING UP
The Trojans close the weekend at UCLA on Sunday at 2 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on B1G+.
Aoki struck out a career-high 10 batters and gave up just one unearned run in his 7.0 innings of work to hand the Commodores their second loss of the year. Vanderbilt falls to 9-2 overall.
The Trojans gave Aoki two early runs of support, going up 2-0 in the third behind an RBI double from Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek and a sacrifice fly from Dean Carpentier. Abbrie Covarrubias added USC's third run with a sac fly of his own in the sixth.
Aoki did not allow a run until the seventh inning when a runner reached on a throwing error and later scored on a groundout. The Trojan right-hander scattered four hits on the day and walked just one batter.
Mason Edwards kept it rolling on the mound in the eighth, setting the side down in order with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. Edwards got the first two outs of the ninth inning and after a two-out single to center field, Ethan Hedges was brought in to face a righty for the final out. Hedges got a strikeout to earn his fourth save of the year and finish off a masterful day on the mound for the USC pitching staff.
The Trojan arms finished with 14 strikeouts, one walk and five hits allowed. Martin-Grudzielanek led the way at the plate with two hits and Hedges moved his season-opening hitting streak to 10 games with a double.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Caden Aoki: W, 7.0 IP, 4H, 0ER, BB, 10K
- Mason Edwards: 1.2 IP, H, 0R, 0BB, 3K
- Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek: 2-for-4, RBI, R, 2B
- Ethan Hedges: 1-for-3, 2B, BB / S, 0.1 IP, K
COMING UP
The Trojans close the weekend at UCLA on Sunday at 2 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on B1G+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Aoki, Caden (1-0)
L: Ethan McElvain (0-2)
S: Hedges, Ethan (4)
Batting:
2B: Brodie Johnston 1 ; Colin Barczi 1
RBI: Jacob Humphrey 1
SH: Mike Mancini 1
Base Running:
RUNS: David Mendez 1
HBP: Colin Barczi 1
Batting:
2B: Dowd, Brayden 1 ; Martin-Grudzielanek, Bryce 1 ; Hedges, Ethan 1
RBI: Martin-Grudzielanek, Bryce 1 ; Carpentier, Dean 1 ; Covarrubias, Abbrie 1
SF: Carpentier, Dean 1 ; Covarrubias, Abbrie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dowd, Brayden 1 ; Martin-Grudzielanek, Bryce 1 ; Carpentier, Dean 1
HBP: Carpentier, Dean 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
3b/p
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ BaseballINF
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