USC baseball's Abbrie Covarrubias earns Big Ten Player of the Week recognition

Currently sitting at 23-12 and 11-7 in conference play, USC baseball is coming off a good weekend series win on the road at Penn State. After losing a close one on Friday, they took care of business on Saturday and then won the rubber match the following day. 

In order to do so, players need to step up and produce clutch moments. Abbrie Covarrubias did exactly that for his team and was recognized as the Big Ten Player of the Week. The sophomore has had a huge role in the Trojan offense throughout the year, and him earning this award is only fitting considering how well he's played.

Sunday in particular saw Covarrubias find great moments during key at-bats to push the USC baseball lead to a place that ended up allowing coach Andy Stankiewicz's side to grab their fifth straight series win. It is a tough BIG conference, but the Cardinal and Gold are starting to enter into a good rhythm and are looking good throughout the lineup.

Impressive Sunday USC baseball performance for important win

For Covarrubias, this needed to manifest into bringing runners home during the third and decisive game against the Nittany Lions. Sitting with a 3-1 lead for the Trojans at the top of the third inning, on a 2-2 pitch, he hit the ball to left field, which resulted in a two-run single. This ability to get points on the board in that position is part of what makes him so great. Being able to repeat this time and time again only furthers that statement for the California native.

Then at the top of the fifth, with the score close again at 7-5, Covarrubias grabbed an RBI single for the Trojans. The cushion proved to be enough, as the Cardinal and Gold would go on to win the game 11-6.

This recognition was celebrated on social media by the team account. In the post they shared that Covarrubias led the team with eight hits, eight RBIs, five runs, and 15 total bases that ended up resulting in the BIG recognition. USC baseball will hope to see more outputs from him like this, as they take on Hawaii next on Tuesday.