CORVALLIS, Oregon (AP) — Ethan Hedges hit two solo home runs and USC defeated Saint Mary’s 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the championship round of the Corvallis Regional.
The Gaels (36-25) will play an elimination game on S unday against Oregon State, with the winner needing to defeat USC twice to win the double-elimination regional.
Hedges gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead with a one-out home run in the bottom of the first inning.
Saint Mary’s went ahead on a two-run home run by Diego Castellanos in the second inning. The Gaels made it 3-1 when Aide Taurek homered to lead off the fourth.
USC tied it in the bottom of the inning when Augie Lopez blasted a two-run homer to right-center field and Hedges’ one-out homer in the fifth gave the Trojans the lead for good.
Richard Tejeda delivered an RBI single in the sixth for a 5-3 lead.
Cody Kashimoto’s sacrifice fly in the eighth got the Gaels within 5-4 but Maximo Martinez got the run back for USC with an RBI-single in the bottom of the inning.
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USC’s Caden Hunter pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the season. Starter Mason Edwards (3-0) got the win, allowing three runs in 5 1/3 innings.
John Damozonio (4-3) took the loss for Saint Mary’s, which notched its first NCAA tournament victory in team history on Friday.
USC (37-21) advances to the championship round, a win away from the super regionals.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
