No. 12 USC Baseball Faces No. 1 UCLA in Crosstown Showdown

Friday, April 3

Westwood, Calif.

6:00 p.m. PT

USC

UCLA

Mason Edwards pitches at home against Illinois in a night game at Dedeaux Field.

Photo by: William Fosnot

No. 12 USC Baseball Faces No. 1 UCLA in Crosstown Showdown

April 02, 2026 | Baseball

Game Notes (PDF)

THIS WEEK: The No. 12 USC Trojans baseball team will travel to face the No. 1 UCLA Bruins baseball in a three-game crosstown rivalry series beginning on Friday. After the crosstown showdown, The Trojans will then head to face the Gauchos on Tuesday in Santa Barbara. The Trojans are coming off their seventh series win in a row.

GAME SCHEDULE:
Friday - USC vs. UCLA (Jackie Robinson Stadium), April 3, 6:00 p.m. PT (B1G+)
Saturday - USC vs. UCLA (Jackie Robinson Stadium), April 4, 2:00 p.m. PT (B1G+)
Sunday - USC vs. UCLA (Jackie Robinson Stadium), April 5, 3:00 p.m. PT (Big Ten Network)
Tuesday - USC vs. UC Santa Barbara (Caesar Uyesaka Stadium), April 7, 4:35 p.m. PT (ESPN+)

PROBABLE PITCHERS:
Friday - USC: LHP Mason Edwards (5-0, 0.67 ERA) vs. UCLA: RHP Logan Reddemann (7-0, 2.72 ERA)
Saturday - USC: RHP Grant Govel (6-0, 1.20 ERA) vs. UCLA: LHP Michael Barnett (5-0, 2.87 ERA)
Sunday - USC: RHP Andrew Johnson (2-0, 2.86 ERA) vs. UCLA: RHP Landon Stump (1-0, 4.30 ERA)

BROADCAST INFO: The first two games against UCLA will be broadcast on B1G+, followed by the Sunday game on Big Ten Network. The matchup at UC Santa Barbara will be broadcast on ESPN+. 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.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS UCLA: The Trojans are 272-155 all-time against the Bruins, dating back to the first ever matchup in 1928. Last season, USC won two of the four matchups between the crosstown rivals.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS UCSB: The Trojans are 92-51-1 all-time against the Guachos. The two programs met this past Tuesday, with the Trojans coming away with the win. The USC baseball team will look to repeat the result as they travel to Santa Barbara for another midweek matchup.

RAINY MIDWEEK WIN: The Trojans battled back for a 7-6 win on a rainy Tuesday night, improving to 27-3 after defeating the Gauchos. After falling behind early, the offense came alive in the bottom of the third. A two-run triple from Abbrie Covarrubias and an RBI groundout by Maximo Martinez cut the deficit to one. Adrian Lopez launched the lone home run of the day to spark another three-run rally. Chase Herrell was dominant in relief, tossing 5.1 innings and allowing just two runs.

SERIES WIN AT MARYLAND: The Trojans took 2-of-3 at Maryland last weekend, winning the opener and the finale. In a rainy series opener, USC held on for an 11-10 victory after taking an early 11-2 lead. After falling on Saturday, the Trojans beat the Terps 14-4 in eight innings on Sunday. Augie Lopez led the way in the series, driving in nine runs with three homers.

HUSKY SWEEP: USC won all three games against Washington at Dedeaux Field. Mason Edwards and Gavin Lauridsen combined on a two-hit shutout on Friday night, and then the Trojans scored seven early runs in a 7-2 victory on Friday. Sunday saw the USC offense explode for 14 runs in a 14-7 seven-inning run-rule victory.

HOT START: The Trojans' 19-0 start to the season marked the best in program history and tied the USC record for the longest winning streak in program history, set in 1955. The Trojans were the final unbeaten team in the country before suffering their first loss of the season in the second game of a doubleheader at Northwestern. USC was also the first team to 20 wins in the country and leads the nation with 27 victories.

IN THE RANKINGS:

Perfect Game - No. 7
USA Today Coaches Poll - No. 8
Baseball America - No. 9
D1Baseball - No. 12

PITCHING DOMINANCE: The Trojan pitching staff has been dominant through eight weeks of play, posting the No. 2 ERA (2.75) in the country, No. 2 Hits/9 (5.81), No. 3 WHIP (1.10) and the most shutouts (6).

MIDSEASON WATCHLISTS/AWARDS:

Mason Edwards: Golden Spikes watch list, D1Baseball/Baseball America/Perfect Game Midseason Pitcher of the Year, D1Baseball Midseason All-America first team
Grant Govel: Golden Spikes watch list, Baseball American Midseason Pitcher of the Year watch list
Andy Stankiewicz - Perfect Game Midseason Coach of the Year

2026 PLAYER NOTES:

HITTERS

Abbrie Covarrubias has been the catalyst to the Trojan offense this season in the leadoff spot, leading the team with 29 runs scored and 13 stolen bases. Covarrubias is slashing .282/.398/.409, has 13 RBI and is tied for 2nd on the team with 17 walks.
Adrian Lopez has served as a consistent run producer in the middle of the USC order, currently sitting 2nd on the team in runs scored (27) and tied for 1st in RBI (26). Lopez is slashing .312/.389/.532, with 14 extra-base hits, including 8 doubles, 2 triples and 4 homers.
Andrew Lamb has emerged as one of the best power bats in the USC lineup, currently tied for 2nd on the team with 5 home runs. Lamb homered in three straight games from 3/10-13 and had a three-run homer against Washington. His .547 slugging percentage is 3rd on the team.
Jack Basseer is tied with Lamb for with 5 long balls and his .300 batting average is 3rd on the squad. He has driven in 14 runs and scored 19, leading USC with a .600 slugging percentage. Basseer had a walk-off, two-run shot against CSU Bakersfield on 3/18.
Kevin Takeuchi has been the Trojans' offensive leader all season. He's second on the team in RBIs (26) and hits (33), while tied for the team lead in walks (17) and ranking fourth in batting average (.297). Takeuchi also has 8 stolen bases on 9 attempts, has scored 25 runs and has a team-high 10 doubles and 3 triples.
Maximo Martinez: since breaking into the lineup the third week of the season, Martinez is leading the team with a .318 average and is second in the club with a .448 OBP. He had a career game against Cal Poly in the Saturday game, going 4-for-5 with five RBIs, three runs, three doubles, and a grand slam.
Maddox Riske had himself a day in the third game of the Cal Poly series, going 5-for-6 with 2 RBI and 2 runs, becoming the first Trojan to record five hits in a game since 2022.
Richard Tejeda has been a regular behind the dish for USC this season. At Northwestern, Tejeda went 1-for-3 with three RBI, two runs scored and a two-run home run.

PITCHERS

Andrew Johnson has emerged as one of the nations most effective pitchers as USC's Sunday starter, posting a 2.86 ERA and 2-0 record in 7 starts and 34.2 total innings. The sophomore righty is 8th in the Big Ten in ERA (2.86), 9th in strikeouts (40), 14th in WHIP (1.27) and 8th in K/9 (10.4).
Adam Troy leads the nation with 9 saves this season and is 11th in the NCAA with 15 appearances on the mound. Troy owns a 2.04 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched, striking out 20.
Diego Velazquez came to USC as both an infielder and pitcher, but has seen the most time on the mound, making 6 appearances and posting a 3.24 ERA. The freshman has given up just 6 hits and 3 walks in 8.1 innings.
Gavin Lauridsen has been a key arm in high-leverage relief situations this year, posting a 3.52 ERA in 13 appearances and 23 innings pitched. Lauridsen earned B1G Freshman of the Week honors after 3.0 scoreless innings against Washington on March 20.
Grant Govel has been like a second ace as USC's Saturday starter, leading the Big Ten and sitting 5th in the NCAA with a 0.69 ERA. Govel has given up just 4 earned runs in 39.0 innings pitched, striking out 41 batters while walking just 4. His 0.54 WHIP leads the nation, and his 3.92 hits/9 are 2nd in the country. Govel was named both National and Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after 6.0 hitless innings against Pepperdine on opening weekend and Big Ten POTW after 7.0 scoreless frames against Northwestern.
Mason Edwards has established himself as one of the top arms in the country this season, posting a 0.67 ERA through 7 starts and 40.1 innings pitched. His ERA is 2nd in the nation, 1.75 hits/9 are 1st in the NCAA, 74 strikeouts are 2nd in the country and 1st in the conference, and his 0.77 WHIP is 9th in the country and 2nd in the Big Ten. The junior lefty went 29.2 innings without giving up a run to start the season and has allowed just 11 hits for a .082 opponent batting average. Edwards has been named B1G Pitcher of the Week three times this season, Perfect Game National Pitcher of the Week once, and Perfect Game Midseason Pictcher of the Year.
Sax Matson has established himself as a key relief pitcher for the Trojans. This season, he leads the team and is 2nd in the NCAA with 17 appearances on the mound, posting a 3.48 ERA and an impressive 3.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio.