Baseball Preview: USC vs. Akron
USC baseball is 4-0 at the start of the 2012 season after sweeping Jacksonville last weekend and beating Long Beach State on Tuesday. The Trojans look to keep their winning streak alive Friday in the opening game of their series against Akron.
It shouldn't be too difficult for the Trojans to maintain their perfect record this weekend. The Zips are 0-3 thus far, losing 8-3 and 4-1 in two games against Appalachian State following their opening loss to Elon (7-1). Returning nine starters and wielding a bullpen of young pitchers, Akron's biggest struggle is inexperience. In their two-game series, their offense had 19 strikeouts in 62 at-bats.
Aware of the difficulties awaiting them on their cross-country road trip, the Zips are looking to use this series with the Trojans as a learning experience. Akron's coach, Rick Rembielak, stated in a video on GoZips.com, "USC is a storied program that is on the rise. We are going to expose them (his players) to a postseason environment to get them ready for league play."
USC looks to continue producing offensively after scoring 27 runs in their first four games. Behind the arms of senior pitchers Brandon Garcia and Andrew Triggs, as well as freshmen Stephen Tarpley and Wyatt Strahan, the Trojans have been efficient on defense so far. They will continue to rearrange the lineup and bullpen to prepare for their more difficult upcoming opponents.
Co-captain Garcia hopes to continue his outstanding 2012 season in tomorrow's game. The senior has gone 3 for 7 with 2 home runs in his first three games at the plate. He pitched in Tuesday's game against Long Beach State and allowed only 2 runs and five hits in five innings.
"I think everything's working for me right now," the Trojan's pitcher told ATVN on Thursday. When asked about his thoughts for the rest of the season, Garcia said, "This will be a team effort from game one to game 56."
Looking ahead to league play for the Trojans reveals the always competitive environment of the Pac-12. In this year's USA Today preseason rankings, five Pac-12 teams were listed in the top 25 (No. 3 Stanford, No. 18 UCLA, No. 19 Oregon State, No. 20 Arizona, No. 22 Cal). SC travels to Palo Alto at the end of March for the series against the Cardinal, which scored 35 runs in three games in their sweep of No. 12 Vanderbilt last weekend. The Trojans will also play two games against traditional powerhouse Cal State Fullerton.
This 4-0 start is the first since the 2005 season. That year, the Trojans made it to the NCAA Super Regionals, falling one win short of advancing to the College World Series. While Omaha is four months away and the team faces a tough Pac-12 schedule, the 2012 season is looking like a promising year for USC to move back towards its roots as an NCAA baseball dynasty.
The team faces Akron Friday at 6pm at Dedeaux Field, with another game Saturday at 2 p.m. and the last on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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