CORVALLIS, Ore. — Saint Mary’s coach Eric Valenzuela knew who he didn’t need to beat him.
Earlier than Saturday evening’s matchup with USC, Valenzuela named Ethan Hedges because the scariest hitter within the Trojans’ lineup although the midseason All-American hadn’t performed to the identical commonplace within the second half of the season.
Hedges was hitting .415 with 22 extra-base hits, together with 11 house runs, and 39 RBIs by USC’s first 32 video games. Since April 8, Hedges had lacked the identical electrical energy. Over a 25-game span, he batted .247 with simply 5 extra-base hits and 17 RBIs.
Nonetheless, the worry was there for opposing coaches. Hedges confirmed why Saturday.
He broke out with a two-homer efficiency, together with the go-ahead lengthy ball, to energy USC to a 6-4 victory and into the Corvallis Regional last. The Trojans (37-21) are one win away from their first tremendous regionals look since 2005.
USC’s Adrian Lopez (5) forces out Saint Mary’s Diego Castellanos out at first base on Saturday.
(Shotgun Spratling / For The Instances)
“He was just in situations where we really had to go after him a little bit,” Valenzuela stated. “I mean, if you make a mistake to a good player like that, he’s going to make you pay for it, so he hurt us today.”
Hedges offered the opening salvo, sending a dangling slider clanging off the hardly occupied steel bleachers in left-center discipline for a first-inning solo homer. USC coach Andy Stankiewicz noticed it as a optimistic signal Hedges could also be rounding again into his first-half kind on the proper time.
“He uses the middle of the field so well. That’s his strength,” Stankiewicz stated. “But we’ve been talking about if a slider or off-speed stays middle in, go ahead and get some good ball flight to the pull side.”
When Hedges acknowledged the pitch’s spin and noticed it up within the zone, he punished it, driving the ball an estimated 399 toes to the left-center discipline bleachers.
USC left-hander Mason Edwards pitched an environment friendly 5⅓ innings, needing simply 64 pitches earlier than he was eliminated after giving up his sixth hit.. Two of these cleared the Goss Stadium wall, giving Saint Mary’s (36-25) an early 3-1 lead, however USC confirmed the resiliency that has been a key aspect of this system underneath Stankiewicz the final three years.
“Throughout this year, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs,” Hedges stated. “But we know with each other, we’re right where we want to be and have the guys to do it.”
With two outs and seemingly no momentum within the fourth inning, USC’s Abbrie Covarrubias obtained on base by beating out a excessive chopper to shortstop. Freshman Augie Lopez tied it two pitches later when he demolished a fastball, placing it on prime of the scoreboard in right-center discipline.
USC pitcher Mason Edwards delivers towards Saint Mary’s within the Corvallis Regional on Saturday.
(Shotgun Spratling / For The Instances)
Hedges’ second blast of the sport — a fifth-inning fastball he smacked over the right-center discipline — gave USC a 4-3 lead.
The Trojans led 5-3 heading into the eighth when issues obtained dicey. Saint Mary’s loaded the bases with a pair of sentimental singles to proper discipline and a four-pitch stroll. A sacrifice fly introduced Gaels three-hole hitter Aiden Taurek to the plate. USC ace reliever Brodie Purcell obtained Taurek to floor right into a fielder’s selection, however then Stankiewicz made the intriguing resolution to tug the right-handed Purcell, the Trojans’ workhorse out of the ‘pen all season, in favor of left-hander Caden Hunter regardless of a right-handed hitter due up.
“When he came to the mound, I said, ‘This is why you came here.’ He had a big smile on his face and said, ‘Absolutely man, let’s go.’ said Stankiewicz, who mentioned Hunter’s ability to attack with more velocity as an impetus for the move.
USC’s Abbrie Covarrubias tags out Saint Mary’s Cody Kashimoto on a stolen base attempt on Saturday.
(Shotgun Spratling / For The Times)
Hunter, who had worked as a starter this season until the last couple weeks, struck out Saint Mary’s cleanup hitter Ryan Pierce on a 95-mph fastball after pumping multiple 96- and 97-mph offerings — his hardest pitches of the season — earlier in the count. The Trojans added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning before Hunter dismissed Saint Mary’s final three hitters to collect his first Division I save, putting the Trojans on the doorstep of advancing to a super regional and being one of the final 16 teams remaining.
“We’ve heard coach say 1,000 times that it’s time to get this program back to where it has been,” Hedges stated, “and I think this year we’ve really got all the pieces to do that. We’ve shown that we have the talent to do that.”
USC advances to the Sunday evening regional last at 7 p.m. PDT the place it would await the winner of Sunday afternoon’s 3 p.m. matchup between top-seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed Saint Mary’s. If USC have been to lose Sunday, a winner-take-all sport can be performed Monday.
