The USC baseball team improved to 7-0 to start the season, beating Rice 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Dedeaux Field to complete a three-game sweep of the Owls.
The Trojans' 7-0 start is the best for the program since 2015 when USC opened the year 12-0 and went on to make an NCAA Regional. Rice falls to 3-5 with the loss.
Andrew Johnson grinded through 5.0 innings on the mound, holding Rice to one run on four hits. After giving up his lone run in the second, Johnson found himself in a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the fourth, but proceeded to strike out the next two batters and get a popup to strand them full and preserve a 4-1 USC lead. Johnson struck out a career-high six batters in the game.
Augie Lopez drove in three of the Trojans' four runs, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning and then an RBI single in the third. USC got a run on a groundout as well in the third to make it 4-1. Abbrie Covarrubias had two hits and scored two runs in the game.
The Owls threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with one out, but Sax Matson came in and got USC out of the jam, inducing two groundouts on two pitches. Rice scored just one in the inning on the first groundout to make it 4-2.
After Matson got the first out of the ninth, Adam Troy closed the door with a flyout and a strikeout for his fourth save of the season. Rohan Kasanagottu and Diego Velazquez both made their collegiate debuts on the mound in the game, with Kassanagottu tossing a scoreless sixth and Velazquez a scoreless seventh.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Andrew Johnson: W, 5.0 IP, 4H, R, 4BB, 6K
- Sax Matson: 1.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, K
- Abbrie Covarrubias: 2-for-4, 2R
- Augie Lopez: 2-for-3, 3 RBI, R, 2-R HR
COMING UP
The Trojans head to Cal Poly for a four-game series starting on Thursday. All four games in San Luis Obispo will be broadcast on ESPN+.
