USC starts BIG road series by sending a big message to Minnesota

Minnesota did well to take the earlier lead. It was, however, USC who pulled away, in large part thanks to a huge sixth inning, as they defeated the Gophers 16-6. Coach Andy Stankiewicz brings the Trojans to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the weekend's three-game series. Now up 1-0 at Siebert Field, he'll look to seal another Big Ten win on the road for his ball club.

After two innings, the home team took a 5-1 lead heading into the third. Richard Tejeda and Adrian Lopez each homered with a man on base to tie things up. Minnesota then responded with a solo home run. Not to be outdone, Andrew Lamb brought things even again at 6-6 with a solo homer of his own.

Lopez hit an RBI double in the fifth. Pitcher Andrew Johnson, who had been brought in in the third, continued to not allow any runs from Minnesota throughout the fourth through the ninth innings. He pitched for 6.1 innings. Johnson earned the win and, on 71 pitches, only allowed two total hits, along with four strikeouts.

6th pushed the game out of hand for USC

The sixth inning was huge for USC. Five runs came in for the Trojans to push the game to 13-6 for the visitors. Tejeda, Ethan Hedges, Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek, and Lopez each had at-bats that resulted in the score being pushed up by the away team.

In the seventh, Tejeda had an RBI single. Lopez scored on an error, and Tejeda finished the day with one more RBI single. All in all, it was a strong showing from USC in the Midwest. Their next game will be on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the same Siebert Field.