University Southern California Trojans
Saturday, March 7
Los Angeles, Calif.
1:00 p.m. PT
USC
14-0, 2-0
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Illinois
7-7, 0-2
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Illinois
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USC
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Photo by: Katie Chin
No. 20 USC Baseball Shuts Out Illinois, 4-0, to Move to 14-0
March 07, 2026 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 20 USC baseball team picked up a second straight 4-0 victory over Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Dedeaux Field, getting seven scoreless innings from Grant Govel to move to 14-0 on the season.
The shutout victory gives the Trojans a series win to open Big Ten play as USC will go for the sweep on Sunday at 11 a.m. Illinois falls to 7-6 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
Govel worked around six hits, stranding Illini runners in each of the first three innings to keep USC in front after the Trojans scored two in the first. After stranding four runners through three, Govel faced just one above the minimum over his final four innings of work, giving up two hits the rest of the way and getting one double play.
For the season, Govel is now 4-0 with a 0.35 ERA, having given up just one earned run. The sophomore righty has 29 strikeouts to just three walks in a team-high 26.0 innings pitched.
Isaac Cadena drove in USC's two runs in the first on a line drive up the middle, plating Maximo Martinez and Adrian Lopez after the two singled earlier in the inning. An Illinois error in the sixth inning scored two more for the Trojans to make it 4-0.
Sax Matson tossed the final 2.0 innings of the game, allowing just one walk and no hits, while striking out four batters. Matson for the year now has a team-high eight appearances on the mound, posting a 1.64 ERA and a 10/1 strikeout to walk ratio.
USC improved it's NCAA best team ERA to 1.43 with the second straight shutout on Saturday.
TOP PERFORMERS
COMING UP
The Trojans and Fighting Illini wrap things up on Sunday at 11 a.m. USC then hosts Long Beach State (Tuesday) and San Diego (Wednesday) for a pair of midweek contests. All USC home games will be broadcast live on B1G+.
The shutout victory gives the Trojans a series win to open Big Ten play as USC will go for the sweep on Sunday at 11 a.m. Illinois falls to 7-6 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
Govel worked around six hits, stranding Illini runners in each of the first three innings to keep USC in front after the Trojans scored two in the first. After stranding four runners through three, Govel faced just one above the minimum over his final four innings of work, giving up two hits the rest of the way and getting one double play.
For the season, Govel is now 4-0 with a 0.35 ERA, having given up just one earned run. The sophomore righty has 29 strikeouts to just three walks in a team-high 26.0 innings pitched.
Isaac Cadena drove in USC's two runs in the first on a line drive up the middle, plating Maximo Martinez and Adrian Lopez after the two singled earlier in the inning. An Illinois error in the sixth inning scored two more for the Trojans to make it 4-0.
Sax Matson tossed the final 2.0 innings of the game, allowing just one walk and no hits, while striking out four batters. Matson for the year now has a team-high eight appearances on the mound, posting a 1.64 ERA and a 10/1 strikeout to walk ratio.
USC improved it's NCAA best team ERA to 1.43 with the second straight shutout on Saturday.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Grant Govel: W, 7.0 IP, 6H, 0R, BB, 2K
- Sax Matson: 2.0 IP, 0H, 0R, BB, 4K
- Isaac Cadena: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
- Adrian Lopez: 2-for-4, 2R
COMING UP
The Trojans and Fighting Illini wrap things up on Sunday at 11 a.m. USC then hosts Long Beach State (Tuesday) and San Diego (Wednesday) for a pair of midweek contests. All USC home games will be broadcast live on B1G+.
Hear from Isaac Cadena after his 2 RBI and work behind the dish helped move us to 14-0 ✌️#FightOn x @YETICoolers pic.twitter.com/fMWIfTgKEs
— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) March 8, 2026
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Govel, Grant (4-0)
L: HALL, Regan (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Carpentier, Dean 1
3B: Takeuchi, Kevin 1
RBI: Cadena, Isaac 2
SH: Basseer, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Martinez, Maximo 1 ; Lopez, Adrian 2 ; Takeuchi, Kevin 1
HBP: Basseer, Jack 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
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AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP/UTL
/ Baseball
LHP
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