NCAA Baseball Series of the Week: No. 10 Oregon Ducks vs. USC Trojans

Big Ten conference play is officially here, and opening weekend is highlighted by two teams that were in the Pac-12 just one year before.

The Oregon Ducks have gone 11-2 to start the season, but they have yet to play a game on the road or against a Power Four team.

Could the USC Trojans knock off the Ducks in a former Pac-12 clash? Or will the Oregon Ducks prevail? Below, you’ll find some storylines and decide which team wins the weekend series.

The Ducks are ready for competition

Oregon has been a tough team to beat in previous years, most recently appearing in two consecutive Super Regionals.

The Ducks are currently on an eight-game win streak, defeating Rhode Island, Columbia, and Utah Tech in that stretch.

Oregon has not played a team with a winning record yet, however, it’s games like these that are meant to be warmups before a long stretch of conference series.

The Ducks are set to face only one ranked team during the weekend series this season, with it being against No. 8 Oregon State in April.

Trojans’ seasoned non-conference slate

USC, on the other hand, has played four games against teams with a winning record so far this year, defeating UC Irvine and Vanderbilt and losing to UCLA and UC Santa Barbara.

The Trojans have gone 1-1 against ranked teams in that stretch, beating No. 14 Vanderbilt and losing to No. 16 UC Santa Barbara.

USC went 6-6 against ranked teams last season, including three losses to top ten teams in non-conference play.

The Trojans’ schedule does not get any easier, as a brutal month of March also includes Michigan and Indiana on the road, and Nebraska at home.

The history of Oregon-USC

Oregon leads the head-to-head series with a 26-20 record against USC since April 9, 2009.

In the most recent meeting, the Trojans defeated the Ducks by a score of 4-2 in the Pac-12 Tournament on May 23, 2024.

Oregon’s last series win over USC was from April 12-14, 2024, when the Ducks outscored the Trojans 11-8 and took two games out of three at home.

The last time USC hosted Oregon, the Trojans took two games out of three and outscored the Ducks 23-13 from May 5-7, 2023.

Ducks’ players to watch

Center fielder Mason Neville has proved to be a force of chaos at the plate this season, hitting a .880 slugging percentage and mashing seven home runs.

Shortstop Maddox Molony leads the Oregon bats in batting average with .425, and his .529 on-base percentage is the second-highest on the team.

On the mound, right-handed pitcher Collin Clarke has been a great rotation piece, boasting a 1.45 earned run average and 20 strikeouts so far this season.

Right-handed pitcher Jaxon Jordan has been a key bullpen piece, allowing zero earned runs and a .077 opponent batting average through four innings.

Trojans’ players to watch

Third baseman Ethan Hedges has been far and away the best USC position player this season, leading the team in batting average (.391), home runs (4), runs batted in (16), and stolen bases (4), just to name a few.

Right-handed pitcher Caden Aoki has been a stellar starter for the Trojans this year, striking out 20 batters while walking only one.

In the bullpen, right-handed pitcher Garren Rizzo has a 4-0 record in just four appearances this season and boasts a .097 opponent batting average.

Bryan Portney is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bep5295@psu.edu.