Same ongoing struggles plague USC during Big Ten tournament loss to Penn State

Give full credit to Penn State. As the underdog, they beat Washington and USC. Thursday's Big Ten tournament opener for the Trojans was a missed opportunity, though.

Because the Nittany Lions had already defeated the Huskies, USC was in a win-and-in to advance to the semifinals. Despite an excellent outing from starting pitcher Caden Aoki, who threw for 100-plus pitches and went seven innings, with the Trojan defense and reliever Andrew Johnson only giving up two total runs all game, PSU squeaked out a low-scoring 2-1 win for the Nittany Lions in Omaha.

Even when Jack Basseer stole two bases at the bottom of the eighth to give USC the tying run only 90 feet away from the mound, the bats just couldn't find a way to get the needed contact.

In total, 12 runners were left on base. That's the game of baseball. Sometimes the breaks just don't fall your way. For coach Andy Stankiewicz's ball club, however, it has been that way since the UCLA series win.

At a certain point, there must be a time when the fortune starts to flip the other way again. As things stand right now, though, this hitting slump when USC needs it most appears to be a trend. Now, with the NCAA tournament berth on the line, the Trojans realistically need to once again defeat Washington in order to feel good about their continued stay in Omaha.

Leaving things up to chance and at the whims of a potential decision not going their way is too risky. As it is, most consider USC a bubble team right now. A loss to the Huskies could potentially be the nail in the coffin of further postseason play, especially when considering how the end of the season has gone.

It does need to be remembered, however, that when USC needed to win that third regular season matchup against Washington, they found a way to do so against the grain of momentum.

Despite the number of late losses that the Trojans have added in May, they have been in these ball games and showed why at one point they were ranked 25th in the nation.

Can't afford to leave anything to chance if you are USC

Their resume could be enough to ensure their place in the NCAA tournament. Coach Stankiewicz will not want to leave that to chance.

For any USC fan looking for a silverlining. The Trojans are losing close games and seemingly falling short of driving a runner home when they need it the most. It will, therefore, only take one spark, particularly if they do receive an invite to the NCAA tournament, and this team can easily go on a run.