After he had thrown his final pitch, escaping the only jam he faced in seven superb innings, Mason Edwards needed a little longer than usual to reach the dugout.
There was a long line of USC teammates waiting to greet him.
It was another night worth celebrating for the Trojans’ ace, whose dominance has been one of the enduring storylines of his team’s sparkling season.
The junior left-hander’s latest gem carried No. 21 USC to a 5-1 victory over Rutgers on Friday at Dedeaux Field in the opener of a three-game series.
After taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Edwards finally gave up a hit — and a run. But his sterling pitching line — he tallied 13 strikeouts along with the three hits and two walks he allowed — served further notice that he’s the guy the Trojans (35-12 overall, 17-8 Big Ten) will want on the mound in their biggest games.
“The young man has worked his tail off to make himself into a front-line guy,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said, “so we’re excited about the way he’s developed.”
Having notched double digits in strikeouts in eight of his nine conference starts, Edwards has set a Big Ten single-season record with 101 strikeouts in conference games.
“Obviously, that’s cool,” Edwards said when informed of the record, “but the more important thing is having a good season and winning with the team.”
Using an aggressive approach, Edwards (7-0) lowered his ERA a few ticks to 1.74 while helping his team notch its fourth consecutive conference victory and fifth win in its last six games.
“My game plan going in was fill [the strike zone] up and make sure I don’t go too deep in counts and walk a lot of guys and have to get myself out of jams,” Edwards said, “so I think that worked well for me tonight.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
