Big Ten pool play gives USC a chance to right late-season wrongs

This was unquestionably at one point one of the hottest teams in college baseball. USC, after winning the series over UCLA, had since dropped the Big Ten series against Michigan State and Washington. The Trojans also lost a one-off matchup against UC Santa Barbara.

Not too long after being ranked in the top 25, USC found itself needing to win the consolation win against the Huskies due to the losing stretch that coach Andy Stankiewicz found his team in.

With the new BIG format for postseason play, the Trojans are in a strong position to not only advance but also control their own destiny and get the bad taste out of their mouth from the late losses.

USC will open up against Penn State on May 22nd at 12pm PT and then face Washington on May 23rd at 8am PT. All games will be streamed on the Big Ten Network.

Because they were able to grab the win against the Huskies during the last regular season game, the Trojans kept ahold of the No. 4 seed. Being the highest seed in Pool D, a win against Washington in Omaha would likely be enough to advance to the single-elimination rounds of the tournament.

All teams play each other once in the pool, with the team that does best advancing to the semifinals. In the event of a tie-breaker being needed, the higher seed will advance. 

Certainly, any team can get hot at a moment's notice. If the Nittany Lions were to win two in a row, they'd be the Pool D winners.

More likely than not, however, the Friday game between USC and Washington will determine who moves on from this group. By then, both schools will have played PSU. If standing at 1-0, then that game will be an instance of winner-take-all.

Either way, setting aside the aspects of what the new format means for the Trojans, this is a ball club that picked up a good win to close out the regular season but needs to just find a way to tack on two more victories to be feeling good about where they are as a ball club.

Ability for USC to solidify spot

As things stand right now, USC may already be in the NCAA Tournament. Still, they'll want to pick up their level to ensure they not only make it but can enter postseason play with a certain degree of confidence.

By all accounts, the Trojans are capable of playing with anyone when they are at their best. Even in their slump, there have been a lot of positives to point to. Coach Stankiewicz will now see if he can figure out a way to get this roster to look like they did against the Bruins and when they went on their seven-game winning streak not too long ago.