[Editorial note: apologies for the limited baseball coverage thus far; Paragon and I have been crushed at work and - to be perfectly honest - are not exactly baseball fanatics...]

USC is two games into a three game series against UCLA, having beaten them 6 - 1 on Friday and 7 - 1 on Saturday. This takes USC to a 15 - 14 record, and improved their PAC 10 record to 4 - 4. (A losing series to Arizona State including a 16 - 5 loss and a 13 - 5 loss hadn't helped much.)

USC's defense has been a bit suspect so far this season - half of the 14 losses have involved USC giving up at least 10 runs. So presumably it was pretty gratifying to win the Friday game on the back of Tommy Milone's 14 strikeouts, and to have Ryan Cook settle down on Saturday after a 3-run fourth inning, and allow no runs until he he was brought out for Robert Stock - whose wild pitch allowed a Bruin score before he finished out the game.

The third game in the series will be played today at UCLA at 1 p.m. PDT, with radio commentary available on USCTrojans.cstv.com.

[Update] UCLA won the third game in the series 4 - 2. UCLA was up by 2 at the end of the fifth inning, and USC attempted a late come-back with the bases loaded in the 9th, until Lopez grounded into a double play. Close doesn't cut it, but at least the Trojans are showing signs of heading in the right direction.

Behind solid pitching USC split their home-and-home series against Pepperdine last night at Dedeaux Field.

Box Score

So, SC goes on the road to play Winthrop for a three game set. Things need to get a bit more stable before conference play starts towards the end of the month.

After beating Southern on Saturday USC dropped a heartbreaker to ucla at Dedeaux Field on Sunday 4-3. SC had the lead going into eighth inning but ucla scored two runs I the eight to pull out the win.

Box Score

UCLA has won six straight against USC and we don't play them again until early April when they 3 at ucla.

Coming off that loss, SC played Pepperdine in Malibu where they lost 10-5. Pepperdine has won 5 straight against SC. SC continues to struggle with their pitching as they gave up 3 home-runs last night.

Box Score

This is not the way that we expect this team to perform. Coach Kreuter needs to to get them focused, I realize it takes time but they need to start finding a way to get it together.

SC plays the second of the 2 game series tonight at Dedeaux Field. Lets hope they get it back on track.

Jon from Corn Nation was nice enough to stop by last nice and set up a mini thread for SC's game last night against Southern. There was no way I was going to stay up that late to watch the game on ESPN after the long day I had but I was happy to see that SC was able to grind one out.

Form the USC Website:

Nice to see that sort of production, we need to se more of that.

SC beat Bethune-Cookman 2-0 in their home opener on Friday night after a tough loss to UC Irvine on Wednesday. Today SC faces ucla at Dedeaux field at 2pm PT. this will be a tough match-up as ucla is ranked #3 in the nation and it should give us a good look at just how good the bruins are.

Sounds like it was a real grinder of a game.

From the SC Website

These can be fun games to watch. Lets hope SC gets back on track when they take on former SC head coach Mike Gillespie at UC Irvine tonight.

Can you say grudge match?

After racking up 16 runs in the season opener SC proceeded to win game 2 9-3 and game 3 12-7.

Highlights from Game 2

Highlights from Game 3

A nice way to start the season. SC takes on San Diego State on Tuesday in San Diego.

USC opened baseball season with a 16-9 rout of Florida International.

Here is the Official Box Score.

From the USC website:

We're going to do our best in watching the baseball team this season though it will be tough to offer any really objective analysis without actually being able to attend the games or see them on TV. This is a make a break or break season for 2nd year head coach Chad Kreuter as he is expected to get SC back to prominence in the Pac-10.

If anyone out there on the west coast is able to attend the games please write up your thoughts and observations in the Diaries and I will move them to the main page. This is a good start for the team so lets see how they progress.

I have stated in the past that I am not a big fan of the term "tradition". What may have happened many years ago does not necessarily have any impact on where a team is today. Prior success in a particular sport like USC Football or UCLA Basketball is not always an indicator of a team's future performance. SC had many dry years in football, as did UCLA in hoops and only a change in coaches brought about positive change in the performance of their respective teams. The recent success of both programs; USC 2 MNC's, played for 3rd and almost played for a 4th, UCLA played for a title and has played in 2 consecutive Final Fours. Clearly, coaching/recruiting has been the key to these programs recent success.

Success and failure are cyclical as fans live and die with a program's achievements. Expectations are always high and those expectations for success, weather or not they are realistic or attainable, a history of success always leaves fans wanting more and when they do not get it, they always end up asking why? We are all familiar with fair-weather fans and the die-hard purists always look down their nose at those who do not share their passion for a particular team/sport when the subject comes up. Regardless of what type of fan you are those who know enough about a particular team/sport are always disappointed at a lack of production or when their team is out hustled by a rival or such.

I bring this up because there was something I saw recently over on the WeAreSC.com Baseball Board.

It seems that our baseball team is getting beat out on the recruiting trail by our rivals from across town. This might not be a big deal because baseball has a very different set of rules when it comes to going to college or the pros. Players can commit to a particular school and if they are good enough, they could be drafted and go right to the pros. Sure, they will end up in minor league ball hoping to make it to the show but they usually get a fat signing bonus if they are considered top talent.

USC commit Mike Moustakas, who was drafted #2 overall, is a prime example of that. He will surely take the money and run, especially if he has Scott Boras as a "advisor" working with him. Consider him gone. Of course, with some of the current USC baseball players being drafted in the MLB draft earlier this week, the team makeup could look quite different that what we saw this past season.

That is why recruiting is so important. I am more than willing to be patient and give coach Kreuter a chance to get settled into the college game as a head coach. But by no means will I be charitable if he doesn't improve the teams recruiting standards and sign some top talent. Across town coach Savage has done a great job at putting a solid program together and a lot of that comes from being experienced in the college game, being a former USC pitching coach helps a lot too, but in the end he has been doing it a little bit longer so he has his plan in place.

I grew up with USC Baseball, as I have noted before my dad played on some of those top teams in the 60's. I have been careful not divulge who he is or his opinions on the current state of SC baseball because he still travels in some circles where criticism or opinions that are not favorable might not be appreciated especially if they are by his son who didn't play that level of baseball or attend SC. I feel that I have looked at USC Baseball objectively over the years and I have found that it is not performing at the level that is expected by those who not only follow it religiously but also just in passing. I am not foolish enough to expect Pac 10 titles or NCAA championships every other year but I do expect to be in a position of contention for one or the other or even both on a consistent basis. For USC those are reasonable expectations.

I was happy when Mike Gillespie moved on, I thought he did not live up to the expectations (tradition if you must) that some of us have come to expect after being on top of the college baseball mountain all those years ago. Kreuter's family connection to Gillespie, he is Gillespie's son-in-law, can help him with the nuances of the college game but Kreuter needs to stake his own claim and this years recruiting class has left a lot to be desired in his search for his own identity. UCLA is not a baseball powerhouse. Yes, they have had their fair share of players make it in the Big Leagues over the years and as I stated earlier coach Savage has done an excellent job with that program of late, but there is no reason why SC and Chad Kreuter cannot be right back in the thick of things. He needs to look no further than right down the hall of Heritage Hall if he is looking for advice as both Pete Carroll and Tim Floyd are getting top talent to come to USC. The history of USC baseball should be motivation enough, but the climate of success around Heritage Hall seems to be infectious so hopefully he will catch the bug.

Missing the baseball postseason for a second year in a row does not help the situation. I realize that SC had the toughest schedule in the country but getting swept by Cal, Stanford and ucla didn't help matters, winning just two of those series probably would have been enough to get on the road to Omaha. If Kreuter is unable to perform then he should go but I think we are a ways from that scenario. If he doesn't perform then the fan base will call for his dismissal and that includes us here at CC but we will do it in a respectful way that will hear all dissenting views regardless of fact or opinions and not light our hair on fire over it.

We have obviously been spoiled with all the attention that the football and basketball teams have received of late so its time that the baseball team gets back to a level of respectability. I'm not asking to return the Dedeaux years but contending for the post season is a must in order to win titles.

There really isn't much to say but Chad Kreuter needs to get back out on the road and recruit some top talent.

Clearly this was a disappointing season for SC as they finish last in the Pac 10 with an 8-16 record and 27-29 overall. Of course, they again miss the College World Series in Omaha but with the record they compiled I can't say I'm surprised. The future certainly looks bright for SC with all the young talent they have on this team coupled with this being coach Kreuter's first season at the helm and having the toughest schedule in the season made for a frustrating season for the Trojans.

Representing the Pac 10 in the CWS will be:

Arizona State #1     Tempe
Arizona #2             Wichita
UCLA     #2             Long Beach
Oregon State #3     Charlottesville

I get a kick out of UCLA going to the CWS with coach Savage at the helm as I read somewhere that some had their doubts because he was a former SC coach. I wasn't the biggest fan of Mike Gillespie but at least he knows talent and Savage's time at SC I'm sure had a lot to do with where he is today.

So we go on from here and hope Coach Kreuter will get it together for next season.

Well that's a nice way to finish out the season. I know there is one more game to go...

The Official Box Score

Stanford put up 13 runs in the 4th inning with two home runs by Stanford's Michael Taylor, including one Grand Slam, on their way to a 20-13 win.

The season finale is today at 1:00pm at Dedeaux Field