Saint Mary’s coach Eric Valenzuela knew who he didn’t want to beat him.
Valenzuela said before Saturday night’s matchup with USC that Ethan Hedges is the scariest hitter in the Trojans’ lineup even though the midseason All-American hadn’t played to the same standard in the second half. Hedges was hitting .415 with 22 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs, and 39 RBIs through USC’s first 32 games. But since April 8, Hedges had lacked the same electricity. Over a 25-game span, he had batted .247 with just five extra-base hits and 17 RBIs.
Still the fear was there for opposing coaches. Hedges showed why Saturday.
He broke out with a two-homer performance, including the go-ahead long ball, to power USC to a 6-4 victory and into the Corvallis Regional final. The Trojans are one win away from their first super regionals appearance since 2005.
USC left-hander Mason Edwards pitched an efficient 5⅓ innings, needing just 64 pitches before he was removed after giving up his sixth hit. Two of those left the yard, giving Saint Mary’s a 3-1 lead early, but USC showed the resiliency that has been a key element of the program under third-year coach Andy Stankiewicz.
With two outs and seemingly no momentum in the fourth inning, USC’s Abbrie Covarrubias got on base by beating out a high chopper to shortstop. Freshman Augie Lopez tied it two pitches later when he demolished a fastball, putting it on top of the scoreboard in right-center field.
Hedges’ second blast gave USC a 4-3 lead an inning later.
The Trojans led 5-3 heading into the eighth when things got dicey. Saint Mary’s loaded the bases with a pair of soft singles to right field and a four-pitch walk. A sacrifice fly brought Gaels three-hole hitter Aiden Taurek to the plate. USC ace reliever Brodie Purcell got Taurek to ground into a fielder’s choice, but then Stankiewicz made the intriguing decision to pull the right-handed Purcell, the Trojans’ workhorse out of the ‘pen all season, in favor of left-hander Caden Hunter despite a right-handed hitter due up.
Hunter, who had worked as a starter 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 batters to collect his first Division I save.
USC advances to the Sunday night regional final at 7 p.m. where it will 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 were to lose Sunday night’s game, a winner-take-all game would be played Monday.
Sign up for more USC news with Times of Troy. In your inbox every Monday morning.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.