USC baseball gets reality check with sweep at hands of rival UCLA

It has been an incredible start to the season for the USC baseball team. The Trojans opened up their 2026 campaign 27-3, and were ranked in the top ten heading into this past weekend’s massive rivalry showdown with UCLA. If there was one knock on the Trojans’ hot start, however, it was that their strength of schedule during that stretch was relatively weak.

Hence, the UCLA series served as a massive opportunity for the team, giving them an opportunity to prove themselves against a Bruins squad ranked No. 1 in the country. Unfortunately, however, the series did not go particularly well for USC.

Not only did the Trojans suffer their first series loss of the year, but they were swept by their crosstown rivals, falling 12-4 on Friday, 9-8 on Saturday, and 10-4 on Sunday. While UCLA is obviously a really good team, the most glaring part of the series was the performance of USC’s pitching. After largely dominating over their first 30 games, the Trojans’ staff was rocked by the Bruins’ lineup, allowing 31 runs over the three games.

The series loss was a bit of a reality check for USC. While the Trojans have looked really good thus far this season, it is clear that they are not quite ready to be discussed among the country’s elite teams just yet. That said, however, the Trojans’ season is far from over.