Preview :: USC Trojans

The Trojans are in town for a three game series, and with the first pitch being thrown at 5:00 p.m. tonight, let's talk about the Boys from Troy for a few minutes.

OSU begins a 10 game homestand tonight-- their longest of the season. They spent ten straight days on the road last week, sweeping Cal Poly and being swept by Arizona.

"We're back in familiar surroundings, and our crowd is second to none. When they get into a ballgame, it gives us great energy and intensity in the way we play," Pat Casey said. "We're going to need that this weekend, because USC has a tremendous ballclub."

Junior catcher Mitch Canham (.386 BA, 5 HR's, 27 RBI's) continues to lead OSU at the plate, along with junior first baseman Jordan Lennerton (.363, 1, 22) and senior outfielder Mike Lissman (.330, 3, 32). Among the Pac-10 leaders, Canham is fourth in batting average, sixth in slugging percentage (.636) and third in on-base percentage (.513), while Lennerton is 10th in batting average and on-base percentage (.448).

Led by a starting trio of junior righthander Mike Stutes (6-1 record, 2.82 earned run average), junior lefthander Joe Paterson (5-2, 3.04) and junior righthander Daniel Turpen (6-1, 3.40), the Beavers lead the Pac-10 in team ERA (3.15) and opponents' batting average (.238).

Today, we will likely see righthander Mike Stutes for the Beavers, and Ryan Cook (4-1, 4.02) for the Trojans.

Go Beavers!

--JB--