USC forces Sunday rubber match against ranked UCLA with 7-5 win

Saturday's win showed a lot from USC. They went up and, despite what the scoreline may suggest, controlled the game during their 7-5 victory over UCLA. Having lost a narrow one the day before, the Trojans illustrated that they can compete and shine while playing against a top-25 team in the country. Particularly through seven innings, it looked like the home team at Great Park in Irvine, California, needed a number by its name.

The scoring didn't start until the second inning. Andrew Lamb hit a solo home run that, according to USC Baseball Analytics, traveled 386’, as shared on X. Then, in back-to-back doubles, Jack Basseer and Augie Lopez drove runners in to score as the Trojan lead extended to 3-0.

Lopez reproduced his earlier efforts at the bottom of the fourth with his RBI double, followed by Richard Tejeda's RBI single, pushing the margin to 5-0 in favor of the hosts. Adrian Lopez then got on base, which allowed Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek to score.

Abbrie Covarrubias tagged one more on as his hit proved to be too much for UCLA and allowed him to drive Adrian Lopez home with two outs at the bottom of the seventh inning. Up to that point in the ball game, Caden Aoki hadn't given up a run and had thrown 105 pitches. His six strikeouts and only four allowed hits allowed him to go deep into the game for USC.

Everything to play for on Sunday for USC

While the usually reliable reliever, Brodie Purcell, had something of an off day. Coach Andy Stankiewicz was able to turn to Ethan Hedges to close out the game and force a rubber match on Sunday.

With zero errors and an improved six stranded base runners from the day before, the Trojans were able to ultimately put the Bruins away. Now with the Sunday matchup in sight, USC will look to win the Big Ten series over their rival at home and make an excellent case toward receiving an invite to Omaha.