Tag: arizona baseball

Clock strikes midnight on USC’s run in Pac-12 Baseball Tournament

USC’s NCAA Tournament dream dies just short of fulfillment.

At the end of the 2024 USC baseball season, the clock struck 12 on the University of Southern California Trojans’ Cinderella run. This riveting journey ended with a 4-3 loss to the University of Arizona Wildcats on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth in the Pac-12 Tournament final on Saturday night in Scottsdale. 

The Wildcats had the Trojans’ number this year, winning the regular-season series 3-2 and scoring wins over the Trojans in early March. However, on Saturday night in Scottsdale, junior right-handed pitcher Caden Aoki threw six and one-third innings of no-hit baseball, giving the Trojans a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning. Aoki was coming off a rough outing in the Trojans’ first game of the Pac-12 Tournament against the Utah Utes, where he gave up four runs in six innings.  The Trojans rallied late to come back against the Utes, cooked the Ducks, and beat the Cal-Berkeley Bears. Their victories culminated in an epic showdown that served as a fitting conclusion to the Pac-12 baseball season. USC’s red hot bat, freshman Braden Dowd, continued to impress, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI against Arizona. Dowd fueled USC’s offense in the tournament, going 6-15 with 8 RBI, two doubles and a home run.  

Unfortunately the Trojan bullpen, which had been a huge part of USC’s success down the stretch, ran out of gas. After finally getting to Aoki in the seventh, the Wildcats were able to get a run back against setup man Xavier Martinez.  The Cats rallied to score three more on Martinez and closer Josh Blum, who was forced to enter the game in the eighth. Arizona tied the game in the eighth with two runs. USC had a chance to retake the lead, but it just didn’t happen. 

The Trojans went down in order in the top of the ninth in a 3-3 tie. Maddox Mihalakis of Arizona grounded out to first to start the bottom of the ninth for the Wildcats. Blake McDonald singled to left. Emilio Corona was brought in to pinch run for McDonald and stole second. In an attempt to set up a double play, Blum intentionally walked Andrew Cain to bring Tommy Splaine to the plate. Splaine, who had already struck out twice in the game, delivered a walk-off single to left field, scoring Corona and securing the win for Arizona. 

This outcome proved to be gut-wrenching for both head coach Andy Stankiewicz and the Trojans, but the team was playing its best baseball at the end of the year, which is a great sign for the future. While it was a tough way to conclude a great run and the season, it’s evident that the Trojans have much to anticipate in 2025, both on the mound and at the plate.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.

Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.

Two Tigers make Perfect Game’s Top 50 seniors list

Hayden Travinski and Mac Bingham both find themselves inside the top 20 of the list.

Perfect Game has released its list of the top 50 seniors as we enter the 2024 baseball season and two LSU Tigers made the list. [autotag]Hayden Travinski[/autotag] and [autotag]Mac Bingham[/autotag] both find themselves inside the top 20 of the list.

Travinski had a phenomenal season in 2023. He finished the year with a .356 batting average with five doubles, 10 homers and 30 RBI. He split time behind the dish with [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] and always came in clutch when LSU needed him the most.

Bingham is new to the bayou. He transfers to LSU after spending four seasons at Arizona. Last season he finished with a .360 batting average as he scored 68 runs and had 20 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, and 51 RBI.

LSU baseball starts practice on Monday and their first game will be on Feb. 16 as it opens the season at Alex Box Stadium against VMI. The Tigers will take on VMI and Central Arkansas for the first four games of the year.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

USC baseball gets swept by Arizona, moves back toward the NCAA bubble

#USC has been an amazing home-field team and a bad road team. A doubleheader sweep puts the Trojans in bubble trouble.

It is really rather remarkable to contemplate the journey USC baseball has made this season. The Trojans have dramatically improved from 2022 and previous years. They’re right in the middle of the chase for an NCAA Tournament berth. This season has definitely brightened the long-term outlook for the program. Yet, within this encouraging campaign, the Trojans have run up against one consistent point of irritation: They can’t seem to play remotely well enough on the road.

USC has lost just six games at home all season long. The Trojans have won just six games away from home this year. Baseball is the same game whether it is played in Los Angeles, or Corvallis, or Seattle, or Salt Lake City, or Phoenix, or Palo Alto, or Eugene, or Berkeley, or anywhere else, but for some reason, USC just can’t win many games away from Dedeaux Field.

The road woes continued for the Trojans on Friday in Tucson. USC got swept by the Wildcats, 13-4 and then 6-3. The two losses push USC back toward the NCAA Tournament bubble. USC will need to find a way to grab at least one win if not more if it wants to feel reasonably good about its bubble odds.

Let’s review Friday’s unfortunate events:

USC baseball preview vs Arizona — Trojans enter defining 3-game stretch

#USC prepares for a huge 3-game series in Tucson versus Arizona. Two wins will make the Trojans a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

Late in the 2023 college basketball season, USC played Arizona when trying to nail down an NCAA Tournament bid. USC lost to the U of A, but then beat Arizona State to seal an NCAA berth. In baseball, the order has been flip-flopped. USC just did beat Arizona State to improve its NCAA odds. Now the Trojans need to beat Arizona at least once, probably twice, to lock up a bid.

Let’s give you the information you need to know about this three-game series, which is the final collection of games before the Pac-12 Tournament. It’s time for USC to make its closing argument to the selection committee and secure a bid to the NCAA baseball postseason.

Vanderbilt vs. Arizona live stream, College World Series, TV channel, start time, how to watch

The Vanderbilt Commodores will meet the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday in Game 1 of the 2021 College World Series from Omaha.

The Vanderbilt Commodores will meet the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday in Game 1 of the 2021 College World Series from Omaha.

Vanderbilt comes into this matchup with a 45-15 record overall and will bring some momentum into this game after winning the Nashville Super Regional. The Wildcats enter this game with a 45-16 record and advanced to the College World Series by beating Ole Miss in the Tuscon Super Regional.

This should be a fantastic College World Series matchup, here is everything you need to know to catch the action.

Vanderbilt vs. Arizona

  • When: Saturday, June 19
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV: ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free) 

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Oklahoma loses slugfest to Arizona 20-13 in first game in Frisco

Oklahoma baseball fell back down to .500 after losing a high-scoring game to Arizona 20-13 on Thursday afternoon.

No. 25 Oklahoma returned to action on Thursday afternoon after a few days off for the first of four games as part of the Frisco College Baseball Classic at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas. The Sooners open the event with two games against No. 17/22/24 Arizona before closing with Missouri and No. 30 Dallas Baptist on the weekend.

The first meeting between Oklahoma and the Wildcats in over 40 years was one that’ll be remembered for awhile as an absolute slugfest with a ridiculous 33 combined runs between the two teams. Needless to say, pitching was optional on Thursday afternoon.

The Sooners got off to a good start scoring two runs in the opening inning to take a quick lead, but Arizona immediately responded with three of their own in the top of the second to take a 3-2 advantage. Oklahoma would then score the next seven runs unanswered over the course of the next two innings highlighted by a home run from second baseman Conor McKenna and a 2-RBI double by designated hitter Jimmy Crooks.

The Wildcats would come right back with eight unanswered runs of their own in the fourth and fifth innings to take an 11-9 lead at the midway point of the game. After trading 2-run innings in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth, Arizona would put the finishing touches on things with another big inning scoring six more runs in the seventh.

Despite a huge offensive day for the Sooners overall, the game wasn’t even close at the end with the Wildcats bringing it home 20-13. The loss sinks Oklahoma back to .500 at 4-4 on the young season.

Consistency continues to allude Oklahoma so far in 2021, with all facets of the game having big days and bad ones. On Thursday, the offense had a big day – but the pitching was obviously extremely ineffective. Right now, you don’t know what Sooners team you are getting on a day-to-day basis.

Oklahoma and Arizona will run it back tomorrow in Frisco at noon CT.

[lawrence-related id=26338]