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USC Men's Baseball, the 12-time national champions who have not qualified for postseason play since 2005, have announced their 2014 season schedule, albeit with possible changes in times and field locations TBD down the road.
The Trojans have begun their first official week of fall practice coming off a season in which USC actually improved in Pac-12 play (20-36, 10-20) but took a significant hit in the win column from last season. That being said, this young roster is looking to develop under second-year head coach Dan Hubbs boasting 27 returners, including the entire 2013 weekend starting rotation along five of their eight position players.
Entering the season with the addition of quality assistant coach in former CSN Head Coach Matt Curtis, the Trojans will need to replace three of their best bats in the order in Adam Landecker (Graduated .351 BA, 18 2B), Greg Zebrack (Graduated .345 BA) and SS/3B James Roberts (.320 BA, 4 HR last season), who propelled the offensive attack.
Looking ahead to next years slate, the Trojans play 18 of 53 games coming against seven different teams that made the 2013 NCAA postseason, including four against defending national champion UCLA.
In addition to the perennially tough Pac-12 slate (in which Oregon State and UCLA qualified for the NCAA CWS), this year's team will face non-conference series with 2013 NCAA Regional teams North Dakota State and Cal Poly San Louis Obispo.
After not being able to compete at Chavez Ravine due to renovations in the concourse last year, this years Dodgertown Classic is set for the second weekend of March, with the Trojans hosting Houston and Pepperdine before taking on crosstown rival UCLA from lovely Dodger Stadium on March 9th to conclude the annual clash of titans in Los Angeles.
The one game of extreme intrigue to keep an eye on will be the match up with Waseda University, a prolific Japanese University for sports and academia bringing their collegiate team for a week-long exhibition of baseball games against talented programs up and down the west coast.
"Our hope is that we can get off to a strong start with an early home schedule before we get into conference play. In addition to our usual Tuesday opponents of Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount, I am excited to face different opponents in Stony Brook and Hawai'i. Overall I think it is a good strong schedule and I am excited to see how our two fall games prepare us for the start of the season."
-USC Head Coach Dan Hubbs told usctrojans.com upon viewing the Trojans 2014 season slate
Feb. 14 Friday Northwestern Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
Feb. 15 Saturday Northwestern Dedeaux Field 2 p.m.
Feb. 16 Sunday Northwestern Dedeuax Field 1 p.m.
-Home Opener
Feb. 18 Tuesday Cal State Fullerton Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
Feb. 21 Friday North Dakota State Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
Feb. 22 Saturday North Dakota State Dedeaux Field 2 p.m.
Feb. 23 Sunday North Dakota State Dedeaux Field 1 p.m.
Feb. 25 Tuesday Long Beach State Long Beach, Calif. 6 p.m.
Feb. 28 Friday Cal Poly Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
March 1 Saturday Cal Poly Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
March 2 Sunday Cal Poly Dedeaux Field 1 p.m.
March 3 Monday Waseda University (ex.) Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
March 4 Tuesday UC Irvine Irvine, Calif. 6:30 p.m.
March 7 Friday Houston Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
March 8 Saturday Pepperdine Dedeaux Field 2 p.m.
March 9 Sunday UCLA Dodger Stadium TBA
-Dodgertown Classic
March 11 Tuesday Loyola Marymount Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
March 14 Friday Oregon* Eugene, Ore. TBA
March 15 Saturday Oregon* Eugene, Ore. TBA
March 16 Sunday Oregon* Eugene, Ore. TBA
March 18 Tuesday Stony Brook Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
March 21 Friday Stanford* Stanford, Calif. TBA
March 22 Saturday Stanford* Stanford, Calif. TBA
March 23 Sunday Stanford* Stanford, Calif. TBA
March 25 Tuesday Loyola Marymount Los Angeles, Calif. TBA
March 28 Friday Washington* Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
March 29 Saturday Washington* Dedeaux Field 2 p.m.
March 30 Sunday Washington* Dedeaux Field 1 p.m.
April 1 Tuesday Long Beach State Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
April 4 Friday Arizona State* Tempe, Ariz. TBA
April 5 Saturday Arizona State* Tempe, Ariz. TBA
April 6 Sunday Arizona State* Tempe, Ariz. TBA
April 8 Tuesday Pepperdine Malibu, Calif. 3 p.m.
April 11 Friday Utah* Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
April 12 Saturday Utah* Dedeaux Field 2 p.m.
April 13 Sunday Utah* Dedeaux Field 1 p.m.
April 17 Thursday Arizona* Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
April 18 Friday Arizona* Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
April 19 Saturday Arizona* Dedeaux Field 1 p.m.
April 22 Tuesday Hawai'i Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
April 25 Friday UCLA* Los Angeles TBA
April 26 Saturday UCLA* Los Angeles TBA
April 27 Sunday UCLA* Los Angeles TBA
-Revenge Series versus Defending National Champion (0-4 last season)
April 29 Tuesday UC Irvine Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
May 2 Friday Washington State* Pullman, Wash. TBA
May 3 Saturday Washington State* Pullman, Wash. TBA
May 4 Sunday Washington State* Pullman, Wash. TBA
May 9 Friday California* Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
May 10 Saturday California* Dedeaux Field 2 p.m.
May 11 Sunday California* Dedeaux Field 1 p.m.
May 20 Tuesday Cal State Fullerton Fullerton, Calif. 6 p.m.
May 23 Friday Oregon State* Dedeaux Field 6 p.m.
May 24 Saturday Oregon State* Dedeaux Field 2 p.m.
May 25 Sunday Oregon State* Dedeaux Field 1 p.m.
Keep in mind folks, the Trojans welcome the University of San Diego Toreros to Dedeaux Field for a contest beginning at 11 a.m. PT on Sunday November 17th. Then the following weekend, the Trojans are set to travel to Long Beach State for a 12 p.m. PT start time at Blair Field on Saturday November 23rd to complete the fall ball preparation.