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USC blows out TCU behind dominant start from Caden Aoki
By Paul Harvey
Published:
USC is looking for its first Super Regional appearance since 2005. On Friday, the Trojans took a major step in the regional round, blasting past TCU in the opening game of the Corvallis Regional.
As the No. 3 seed in the regional, USC entered Friday as the visiting team against the Horned Frogs as the 2-seed. However, the Trojans flipped things on their head with a hot start and capped things off with a late-innings push.
From the 6th inning onward, USC outscored TCU 10-0 in the 13-1 win. Remarkably, USC did all its scoring without an extra-base hit.
However, the star in this one came on the mound with USC starter Caden Aoki putting together 8 brilliant innings. He struck out the final batter he would face on his 114th pitch of the game.
Aoki ended the evening with 8 innings of 1 earned run ball with 6 strikeouts without issuing a walk. Sax Matson would get the final 3 outs of the historic win by the Trojans.
The 12-run margin of victory is the most by USC since 1994, when the program scored 25 runs in a win over UNC Greensboro.
With the win, USC moves into Saturday’s winner’s bracket game set for 6 pm PT. The Trojans could face a former Pac-12 foe with the winner of Friday’s Oregon State vs. Saint Mary’s matchup getting USC.
If USC can come out on top Saturday, the Trojans will be on the doorstep of the long-awaited return to the Super Regionals.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.