The Michigan State baseball team will travel west this weekend to Los Angeles to face the No. 25-ranked USC Trojans for its final road weekend series of the 2025 season.
The Spartans played two non-conference games earlier this week, including a 3-1 win over Eastern Michigan, which was MSU’s 2,500th in program history. MSU also lost 6-5 to Western Michigan in 12 innings on Wednesday in Kalamazoo.
Big Ten Tournament Hopes on the Line
The Spartans enter this series against the Trojans, hoping to strengthen their chances at qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha after failing to qualify in 2024. MSU is currently on the cut line, tied for 12th place in the conference with Northwestern, with a 10-14 record in Big Ten play.
The Spartans lost two out of three against the No. 5-ranked Oregon Ducks in their series at home last weekend at McLane Stadium.Despite the loss, Michigan State competed for most of the series, winning game one 2-0 and losing game three 3-1. The Ducks pulled away in game two, winning 13-5.
MSU junior left-handed pitcher Joseph Dzierwa has recently been dominant on the mound for the Spartans. Dzierwa collected 11 strikeouts and allowed three hits in MSU's 2-0 win against the Ducks.
Dzierwa received many accolades courtesy of his stellar performance, including being named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Dick Howser National Pitcher of the Week.
Scouting USC
The Trojans enter their final home series of the season with a 32-16 overall record and are tied for third in the Big Ten with No. 5 Oregon, with a 16-8 conference record.
In its last series, USC took two out of three games against its arch-rival, the No. 18-ranked UCLA Bruins.
Junior infielder Ethan Hedges leads the Trojans this season with 12 home runs, 65 hits and 48 runs. Sophomore outfielder Brayden Dowd has also contributed this season for the Trojans with eight home runs, 59 hits and 44 runs.
Defensively, the Trojans rank second in the Big Ten behind the Iowa Hawkeyes in strikeouts with 436 on the season. Senior pitcher Caden Aoki leads the Trojans in strikeouts with 69 on the season
Key for the Series
A key for the Spartans to be successful in the series against the Trojans is consistency on offense. Throughout its last five games against Oregon, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, the Spartans are averaging 3.2 runs per game.
The Trojans were consistent on offense in their series win against the Bruins. USC averaged eight runs in the series against UCLA.
The Spartans will open up the three-game series against USC starting Friday night in Irvine, California. First pitch from Great Park is set for 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Saturday's game is scheduled for 5:02 p.m. Eastern Time and Sunday's contest begins at 4:02 p.m. Eastern Time.
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