USC played amazing again today, shutting down the potent Bear offense and posting an impressive run total once again.
As we begin to look at this game, let’s keep in mind how the recent run by USC (winning their last 3 conference series) has impacted the standings:
Pac-10 Standings
ASU 5-3 .625
Stan 5-3 .625
USC 6-5 .545
OSU 4-4 .500
Cal 4-4 .500
UCLA 3-3 .500
UW 3-3 .500
WSU 3-5 .375
UA 3-6 .333
The Trojans, improbably, are sitting at third place in the conference after playing 3 of the best teams in the conference: UCLA, ASU, and Arizona. It looks like USC is for real.
Let’s take a look at how the Trojans performed Saturday afternoon.
Starting pitching: A
Brad Boxburger put in a solid start, throwing 8 innings, giving up 3 runs, 5 hits, and 2 walks while striking out 7. Boxburger had excellent movement on his pitches and worked very efficiently. Not only was there little wasted motion on the mound, but he only threw 92 pitches (by my unofficial count) in 8 innings. Very few balls were hard hit – most hitters were jammed or nicked the ball on the end of the bat. It was another dominant performance put in by a Trojan starting pitcher.
Relief pitching: C
On the plus side, the relief pitching didn’t give the game away. Freshman Chris Metzger some experience, but he had a rather poor outing, giving up two runs in 2/3 of an inning, walking two, and ceding two hits. The lanky 6-10 Metzger has enormous physical skills, but is iffy on mechanics and has problems with the location and break of his pitches. He also has a tendency to not get set in his pitching stance, leading to balks. After Metzger let in two runs and put two more on, Jordan Hershiser was called in to put out the fire. He got the next batter to ground out on the first pitching, closing out the game. Jordan Hershiser has evolved into a person Chad Kreuter can trust coming out of the bullpen.
Hitting: A
Another day, another double-digit run total for the Trojans. We didn’t get as deep into pitch counts as we did against Tyson Ross, but it wasn’t too bad. Plus, the Trojans touched up Kevin Miller, which appeared to be impossible before this game. He was chased after three innings, which is much worse than his 6 2/3 outing against Oregon State last week. Grant Green had a particularly good day, going 4-4 with a walk. Actually Grant has had such a good series that he is now USC’s best batter, with a .431 OBP. Congrats, Grant.
Fielding: B+
The fielding was pretty nondescript. There were a few nice plays – Roberto Lopez made a catch running into the wall in right and Joe De Pinto made a few good plays at second – but there weren’t any web gems on the field this afternoon. The only error came when Boxberger missed an easy comebacker to the mound, letting it go under his glove. However, by the time this happened, the outcome was already decided. Plus, that was the only baserunner to reach base that inning.
Random thoughts:
The heat played an important part in this game. Our hitting was able to keep their defense out on the field for a long period of time, and the Bears became pretty lethargic. At one point, a Cal hitter swung at a third strike, which squirted past Stock to the backstop. The hitter didn’t even leave the batters box and waited for Stock to throw the ball to first, which prompted him to slowly walk back to the dugout. In contrast, Boxberger worked very efficiently, which got the Trojans defense back in the dugout quickly.
Craig Bennigson pitched as expected: badly. His ERA is now well north of 6. You have to wonder when he’ll be pulled from Cal’s rotation.
Bottom line: The Trojans are playing amazing baseball right now. They have now won 6 out of their last seven, all against ranked opponents. They’re making a charge at the top spots in the Pac-10, too. With their stellar rotation (Milone, Boxberger, Cook, Couture) and their suddenly potent lineup, the Trojans could be a force to reckon with in the Pac-10 and (possibly? prayerfully?) in the NCAA Regionals.
Also: Pictures are coming soon.
