USC's quiet offense paves way for Long Beach State upset
The No. 12 USC Trojans could not keep up with the Long Beach State Dirtbags early offensive pressure, as their inconsistency away from home continues on their five-game roadtrip.
USC Trojan catcher Augie Lopez (24) makes a base hit during an NCAA Men's baseball game between the USC Trojans and Pepperdine Wave Friday February 13,2026 at Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles Calif The No. 12 USC Trojans struggled to suppress the Long Beach State Dirtbags offense and develop run production of their own in a 5-3 loss, Tuesday evening. The Trojans never found their footing on the mound and fell victim to a dominant pitching performance early to put them in a quick hole.
Long Beach State added to the scoreboard first with a two-RBI double pushed to left field by Kaiden Smaka in the first inning. The Dirtbags continued to bring runs home in the fourth inning, despite a Trojan pitching change from Chase Herrell to Garren Rizzo, with a sacrifice fly ball from Trotter Enright and a Jake Evans single to center field. USC spent the majority of the afternoon struggling to put runners on base, as Long Beach State pitcher Caleb Anderson stacked nine strikeouts and just one hit over six innings pitched.
This comes after Anderson pitched just 1. 1 innings and gave up eight runs against Cal State Fullerton on Friday. USC's first hit of the game came in the fourth inning off an Isaac Cadena single.
This ultimately led to three quick outs to end the inning, preventing opportunity to establish momentum. But their first run finally showed face after a seventh-inning pitching change from Long Beach State that introduced Jaxon Baker for Anderson. A flurry of USC pinch hitters took the plate after a Maximo Martinez walk.