USC takedown of Bruins latest highlight of baseball rebuild
By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer
Southern California’s rebuild under first-year coach Andy Stankiewicz isn’t necessarily on the fast track. It’s certainly moving right along, though.
The Trojans, whose 12 national titles are twice as many as any other school despite a down cycle that’s lasted 25 years, enter the last week of April in unfamiliar territory — in the upper half of the Pac-12.
With at least 19 games to play, USC (24-14-1, 11-7) is one win from matching last year’s total, and it already has won three more Pac-12 games.
Stankiewicz said before the season that his team isn’t loaded with elite talent but good enough to win its share of games. That’s borne out. The offense and pitching are mostly middle of the pack in the Pac-12.
The everyday lineup is made up of four transfers, three holdovers and two freshmen. One of those freshmen, center fielder Austin Overn, is batting a team-best .354, slugging .602 and leads the nation with 12 triples.
The staff ERA of 4.10 is third in the conference. Tyler Stromsborg is the No. 1 starter for the second straight year and Notre Dame transfer Caden Aoki, coming off an injury last year, has solidified himself as the No. 2.
“For lack of a better term, we’ve been piecing it together as best we can,” Stankiewicz said Monday. “The guys have been great. They work hard, they’re coachable, they listen, they enjoy being together. It’s put us in good spots as we compete on the weekends.”
USC opened Pac-12 play with four straight series wins, including one over a top-five Stanford. After getting swept at Oregon State, the Trojans this past weekend won a home series against UCLA for the first time since 2005.
They’re 19-7 since a 5-7-1 start and head to Washington two games behind Pac-12 co-leaders Stanford and Arizona State.
An NCAA Tournament bid, which would be only USC’s second since 2006, is far from secure. The Trojans have lost six one-run games and are No. 60 in the RPI, largely because of their 4-9-1 road record.
“Great programs, it doesn’t matter. They play well on the road or at home,” Stankiewicz said, “and that’s a hurdle we have to address.”
IN THE POLLS
LSU (32-7), the consensus No. 1 team, swept Mississippi on the road after pinch hitter Hayden Travinski’s two-out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning helped the Tigers to a 7-6 win Sunday.
D1Baseball.com and Collegiate Baseball newspaper rank Wake Forest (34-6) second and South Carolina (34-6) third. Baseball America promoted South Carolina from sixth to second and continues to have Wake Forest third.
Wake Forest outscored Pittsburgh by a combined 40-5 on Saturday and Sunday after getting shut out 3-0 on Friday. South Carolina took three from Florida for one of the notable sweeps of the season.
VOLS SWEEP VANDY AGAIN
Tennessee swept Vanderbilt for the second year in a row and has won seven straight against the Commodores, the Volunteers’ longest win streak in the series since 1993-94.
Griffin Merritt’s 12th-inning home run produced a 4-3 walk-off win Friday. The Vols scored nine first-inning runs in a 17-1 victory Saturday. Hunter Ensley homered twice in a 10-5 win Sunday.
ASCENDING MOUNTAINEERS
West Virginia won three straight against Big 12 preseason favorite TCU and will begin the second half of its conference schedule in first place and ranked as high as No. 17 in the polls.
The Mountaineers (29-11, 8-4) were picked sixth in the preseason, and their highest finish in the Big 12 was a tie for third in 2013, their first year in the league.
West Virginia finished its first Big 12 sweep of the season with a 17-7, seven-inning win Sunday. The Mountaineers play at last-place Baylor in a series beginning Friday.
J.J. Wetherholt, who missed five games because of injury, returned Sunday. His .455 batting average leads the Big 12 and is second nationally. No. 2 starter Blaine Traxel leads the nation with four complete games, ranks third with 70 2/3 innings pitched and has a team-best 3.44 ERA.
MILESTONE WIN
Florida Gulf Coast’s 12-5 win over Jacksonville State on Sunday marked coach Dave Tollett’s 700th victory with the Eagles. Tollett has been FGCU’s coach since the program started in Division II in 2003.
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