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Sometimes the easy narratives hold up.
In a battle between the nation’s strikeout leader and the last team to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, Mason Edwards prevailed.
The USC ace shut down Michigan State over four scoreless innings Friday before facing an opponent he could not overcome.
A 1-hour 42-minute rain delay knocked Edwards out of the game but could not derail the fourth-seeded Trojans’ early momentum during a 7-0 victory at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb.
Edwards and three relievers gave up only six hits while combining for USC’snation-leading 10th shutout— the team’s most in a season since 1971.
Meanwhile, Kevin Takeuchi hit two doubles and Jack Basseer and Abbrie Covarrubias each drove in two runs to spark a USC offense that relied on clutch hitting, scoring every run with two outs.
Edwards piled up six strikeouts and gave up only two hits before departing with a 4-0 lead over the 12th-seeded Spartans when rain forced both teams from the field in the middle of the fourth inning.
“You always want to go more than four innings as a starter,” Edwards told the Big Ten Network afterward, “so obviously not too happy about coming out in the fourth, but it’s all good — we’ve got other guys in the ‘pen who are able to go out and get the job done.”
USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said on the Big Ten Network that once the delay exceeded an hour, “we felt like the smart move was to take him out,” adding that there was more baseball to play in the postseason for the Trojans (43-14).
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
