This weekend, #4 Stanford baseball will welcome USC to The Farm to close out the regular season with a three-game home series. Stanford comes in at 34-14 overall and 18-9 in the Pac-12 while USC comes in at 25-25 overall and 8-19 in the Pac-12.
Alex Williams is the projected starting pitcher for Stanford in game one. Game one will be on Thursday at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and KZSU radio. Game two will be on Friday at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KZSU radio. Game three will be on Saturday at 12:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and KZSU radio.
Last time out: On Tuesday, Stanford blew the doors off Santa Clara on the road by a final score of 19-0.
RECAP: #4 Stanford smacks Santa Clara in final midweek contest
On USC: The Trojans have not had a great season as is evident by their record both overall and in league. They’ve been swept three times this season: vs. Oregon State, at Arizona State, and vs. Washington. So, they’re definitely a team that knows what it’s like to get swept. At the same time, they have notched some quality wins taking a game at UCLA, at Oregon, and taking two out of three against Arizona.
The top power hitter on this Trojans team is redshirt junior catcher Tyler Lozano, who has 12 home runs to go along with 33 RBIs, a .224 batting average, a .472 slugging percentage, and a .281 on base percentage. The top contact hitter is redshirt sophomore outfielder Rhylan Thomas, who has a .364 batting average to go along with two home runs, 21 RBIs, a .445 slugging percentage, and a .426 on base percentage.
As for their pitching, the Trojans have a 5.03 team ERA while their opponents have a 5.45 ERA. Their top pitcher out of the bullpen is redshirt junior righty Carson Lambert, who has a team-best 3.12 ERA and a 6-3 record despite not having a single start. Sophomore righty Charlie Hurley has 6-1 record in 12 starts to go along with a 3.36 ERA. One other pitcher to keep an eye on is sophomore righty Jaden Agassi, who is the son of tennis hall of famers Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. Agassi has a third-best 3.81 ERA on the team to go along with a 3-1 record in 9 starts and 14 appearances.
Prediction: Stanford is coming in hotter than the month of July. They’ve won nine straight games and made Santa Clara look like a tee-ball team on Tuesday night. On paper, they should sweep USC and in truth, the only question is whether or not they’ll get a sweep or drop one game. I’ve been hesitant to pick sweeps just because it’s never an easy task. It’s really easy to drop one game. That all being said, I really feel like I have to pick the Cardinal to sweep the Trojans this weekend. The data and recent trends are overwhelmingly in their favor to do so. It’s really that simple.
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