No. 25 USC Baseball Stays Unbeaten with 8-6 Win at Cal Poly

Sunday, March 1

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

1:05 p.m. PT

USC

4-7

Cal Poly

11-0

USC

Cal Poly

Photo by: Ryan Leong

No. 25 USC Baseball Stays Unbeaten with 8-6 Win at Cal Poly

March 01, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The No. 25 USC baseball team held on for an 8-6, 11^th-inning victory on Sunday afternoon at Cal Poly, completing a four-game sweep and moving to 11-0 in the process.

The Trojans weathered a ninth-inning rally by the Mustangs, scoring twice in the top of the 11^th to keep their season-opening win streak alive. Cal Poly falls to 4-7 with the loss.

USC took a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Mustangs rallied for five runs in the frame to tie it up and force extra innings. The Trojans regrouped and scored two in the 11^th, loading the bases and scoring on a wild pitch, and then getting a run-scoring double off the wall from Maddox Riske.

Gavin Lauridsen locked it down in the bottom of the 11^th, working around a one-out walk with a double-play ball to short to end it.

Andrew Johnson got the start and was perfect through 4.2 innings, retiring the first 14 batters he faced before giving up a pair of hits in the fifth. He wouldn't give up his first run until a homer in the seventh. After the lone Cal Poly run, Johnson got the next two outs before turning it over to Sax Matson for the final out of the inning. Johnson finished the day with a career best seven strikeouts and just one walk.

The Trojans scored in each of the first two innings to take the early lead, with Kevin Takeuchi grounding in a run in the first and Richard Tejeda doubling one home in the second. USC made it 4-0 with two in the seventh after Adrian Lopez singled in a run and then scored on a double steal later in the inning. The Trojans scored two crucial runs in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice bunt and a single by Maddox Riske.

Cal Poly would send nine men to the plate and score five runs on five hits to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Up to that point, USC had only given up three runs in the series.

Lauridsen came in and got the final out of the ninth, and then went on to toss scoreless 10^th and 11^th innings to pick up the win.

TOP PERFORMERS

Andrew Johnson: 6.2 IP, 4H, R, BB, 7K
Gavin Lauridsen: W, 2.1 IP, 0H, 0R, BB, K
Adrian Lopez: 2-for-5, RBI, R, SB
Richard Tejeda: 2-for-5, RBI, 2B

COMING UP
The Trojans return home for a pair of midweek contests this week, hosting UC Irvine on Tuesday and then hosting an exhibition against Waseda University from Japan on Wednesday. USC opens Big Ten play next weekend, with a three-game series against Illinois starting on Friday. All USC home games will be broadcast live on B1G+.

Thoughts from the manager after a gritty dub on the road ✌️#FightOn x @YETICoolers pic.twitter.com/jvAQokNPCa
— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) March 2, 2026