Beaver baseball sweeps USC Trojans in series finale
OSU hitter, Ruben Cedillo, swings while teammates watch closely at the baseball game against USC at Goss Stadium on April 16, 2023. Ruben struck out, but The beavers went on to win 6-3.
April 16, 2023
Confidence and teamwork was key for the Beavers as they defeated the USC Trojans in the final game of the series at home.
This makes it their second year in a row where they have won the series against the Trojans with a final score of 6-3 and a current six game winning streak.
“More touches. More guys giving each other hugs and high fives and jumping around at times, so some good energy going on,” said head coach Mitch Canham.
Sophomore Travis Bazzana managed to score a run in the first inning and set the tone for the majority of the game on the offensive side of things.
“I’m just trying to spark that first run straight away. It’s important and it really puts the other team on the ropes from the get go and stealing a bag is gonna help that,” said Bazzana.
Bazzana has been frisky on the offense as he uses his “wheels” he knows he has to get the steals and get there when he needs to.
Bazzana is seemingly making a statement with how strong he can be on the offense and showing his growth from last year alongside junior Garret Forrester as they both are able to get those steals and be bold with it.
Alongside them is sophomore Mikey Kane, who made a stance as he hit a home run in the fourth inning. This was a big offensive move for him.
“We all know he [Kane] can be really exciting at bat and he can really play defense,” said Canham.
On the pitching side of things this afternoon, there were visible ups and downs for both the Beavers and Trojans.
Junior pitcher Jaren Hunter made a showing and it got cut short as he had a little tightness in the arm as other junior pitcher AJ Lattery was able to get up there for a few innings and strike out a couple Trojans.
“I had a feeling I was going to go in sometime in the third or in the second and it happened to be in the second when he had to come out but yeah it was a little different from last time, last week I got time to warm up,” said Lattery.
Back-to-back walks were allowed from Beavers pitchers to get Trojans on bases and give them the potential to get runs and get something on the board.
The Beavers defense stood their ground and were able to switch things around, limit the Trojans runs, and break the streak of walks that was going on with a strike out that sent the crowd into a havoc of cheers.
The Beavers hope to keep the momentum going as they head into their next game on Tuesday against Seattle University at Goss Stadium at 5:05 p.m.
