USC baseball shows signs of life with sweep of Northwestern
Absent from the NCAA baseball playoffs since 2005, 12-time champion USC has been struggling to rid itself of mediocrity, and this weekend’s three-game sweep of visiting Northwestern could be a step in the right direction.
Second-year Coach Dan Hubbs has loaded up on underclassmen, and many of them were major contributors.
On Sunday, in a 13-6 win over the Wildcats, sophomore infielder A.J. Ramirez went four for four with three runs batted in and sophomore outfielder Vahn Bozoian had a home run. Freshman catcher Jeremy Martinez had two hits Sunday to finish with five in three games.
The Trojans defeated Northwestern, 2-1 in 15 innings, on Saturday after beating the Wildcats in 11 innings, 4-3, on Friday.
Sophomore pitcher Nigel Nootbaar struck out eight in five innings Saturday.
Across town, defending NCAA champion UCLA defeated Portland, 4-3, on a game-winning hit by Shane Zeile in the 11th inning Sunday. Sophomore Ty Moore went four for four Sunday to help the Bruins take two of three games from the Pilots.
More to Read
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.