Trojans complete stunning regional comeback, advance to first Super Regional since 2005
The Sporting Tribune
Host · Writer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — USC baseball completed one of the most remarkable postseason turnarounds in program history Monday night, defeating No. 12 national seed Texas A&M 7-1 to capture the College Station Regional and advance to the NCAA Super Regional round for the first time since 2005.
The Trojans (47-16) had their backs against the wall after dropping their regional opener to Texas State on Friday, but responded with four consecutive elimination-game victories, including back-to-back wins over host Texas A&M on its home field. USC outscored opponents 55-14 during that four-game stretch and became just the second team in school history to win a regional after losing its opening game, joining the 1971 Trojans.
The regional-clinching victory was powered by sophomore Augie Lopez, who delivered the decisive blow with a three-run home run in the seventh inning. His towering shot transformed a tense one-run game into a comfortable 5-1 USC lead and silenced the crowd at Blue Bell Park.
Lopez finished with a game-high five RBIs, continuing a postseason surge that helped fuel USC’s dramatic run through the loser’s bracket.
After Texas A&M grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Bear Harrison in the third inning, USC responded in the fifth. Dean Carpentier sparked the rally with a leadoff single and eventually scored on an RBI single from Abbrie Covarrubias to tie the game.
Covarrubias then stole second and came home moments later when Lopez lined an RBI single to give USC a 2-1 advantage.
The Trojans maintained that slim lead until the seventh inning when Lopez launched the biggest swing of USC’s season, a three-run homer that pushed the advantage to four runs and left the Aggies searching for answers. Texas A&M starter Clayton Freshcorn had kept the Aggies in the game through more than six innings, but Lopez’s blast effectively ended the hosts’ hopes of extending their season.
USC added two more insurance runs in the eighth inning. Adrian Lopez drove in one run on a fielder’s choice as Carpentier beat the throw home, and Augie Lopez capped his memorable night with a sacrifice fly for his fifth RBI.
The Trojans received another strong effort from their pitching staff. All-Big Ten pitcher Grant Govel, working on just two days of rest, delivered four solid innings while allowing three hits and one run with four strikeouts. He retired the first seven batters he faced and provided USC exactly the kind of steady start it needed in a winner-take-all game.
The bullpen took over from there and was dominant.
Redshirt sophomore Chase Herrell led the charge, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings as USC relievers combined to allow just three hits over the final five innings. The Aggies, who entered the tournament as a national seed and one of the favorites to reach Omaha, never seriously threatened after Lopez’s seventh-inning homer.
The victory represents another significant milestone for head coach Andy Stankiewicz, who inherited a program coming off a last-place finish in 2022. Four years later, USC has claimed its first regional championship in 21 years and reached back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 2001 and 2002.
The Trojans came close a year ago, reaching the Corvallis Regional final before being swept by Oregon State. This season, they broke through.
Now USC faces its biggest challenge yet.
The Trojans will travel to Chapel Hill to face No. 5 national seed North Carolina in a best-of-three Super Regional series. The Tar Heels (48-11-1) advanced by going undefeated in the Chapel Hill Regional and are making their 13th Super Regional appearance.
For USC, however, the accomplishment already carries historic significance. A program that once dominated college baseball with 12 national championships has spent two decades trying to reclaim its place among the sport’s elite.
After four straight elimination-game wins and a regional title earned on the road against a national seed, the Trojans are one step closer to doing exactly that.
