Series Preview
#12 Southern California Trojans (30-8, 13-5 B1G) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (28-9, 12-3 B1G)
Location: Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, Lincoln, NE
Dates: April 17-19th
Times (all CDT): Friday @ 6pm , Saturday @ 2pm, Sunday @ 12pm
Coaches: Andy Stankiewicz (4th season, 472—321-3) & Will Bolt (7th season, 198-135-1)
TV/Stream: All games on B1G+, Sunday also on Nebraska Public Media
Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App
NCAA baseball royalty is coming to Lincoln. For the first time ever, the winningest program (by way of championships) is coming to Nebraska and not setting up residence at Rosenblatt, in Omaha. It’s special when a program gets to take on one of the true blue bloods of the sport. The many battles with Texas in the Big XII, the taking on LSU last season in Frisco, and now hosting a USC team that is back in the national spotlight where it belongs.
Nebraska inexplicably fell out of the D1Baseball rankings after losing a series by a single run at a ranked Oregon team, but is still ranked in the other polls, setting up the first home ranked on ranked matchup in over a decade. The number one goal Coach Will Bolt puts up at the beginning of every season is to host a regional. The Oregon series was a chance to all but lock that in, but despite the loss, Nebraska gets a chance to do the exact same thing with a series win this weekend.
USC has played all but 6 games in the Southern California region. They did win both of those series, but are 4-2 and were very inconsistent in those games against 2 of the Big Ten’s worst teams in Northwestern and Maryland (Boy, thats weird to say that about the Terps.) They are gettable, but are also wanting to have a statement series win on the road to all but solidify their regional host. A lot is on the line for both teams in this matchup.
Pitching Preview
We had a couple big bombs dropped on us Tuesday night. First, Ty Horn came in and pitched 3 innings in the win over Creighton. Then after the game, Coach Will Bolt said Horn would remain in the bullpen for the foreseeable future. His last couple of outings haven’t been great, and coaches want to see him go all out like a reliever and not have to worry about working deep. They also see him being able to affect multiple games a week as a positive.
Game 1: RHP Cooper Katskee (5-0, 3.27 ERA) vs. LHP Mason Edwards (6-0, 1.35 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Carson Jasa (6-1, 4.34 ERA) vs. RHP Grant Govel (7-0, 2.13 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Gavin Blachowicz (3-1, 2.27 ERA) vs. RHP Andrew Johnson (3-1, 3.66 ERA)
With the reshuffling Coach Bolt wasted little time in picking Cooper Katskee to be his Friday starter. He cited experience, being the most consistent of the starters thus far in the season, going the longest into games, and being the least volatile. He’s moved from bullpen to weekday starter to weekend starter, to Friday night ace. He is used to that though, having done the exact same thing at Miami last year.
For the first time since Auburn, Carson Jasa had a blip on his really good run through the middle of the season. He returns home where he has averaged 10 strikeouts in his 4 starts at Haymarket Park. Granted, he hasn’t faced an elite offense in those games, but the Trojans don’t provide one either.
The reshuffling brings Gavin Blachowicz back into the Sunday slot he started the season at. After seemingly being just a little off despite putting up decent numbers at Michigan, Blachowicz has been on a tear. He’s given up only 1 earned run in his last 11.1 innings since. He wants to prove he should have never left the weekend rotation.
If the USC campus has a parking spot for Conference Pitcher of the Week, Mason Edwards and Grant Govel have pretty much shared the spot every other week in the early part of the season. The best 1-2 punch in the conference, they have combined to go 13-0, and sit 1-2 in the Big Ten in ERA by starting pitchers. Edwards leads the conference in strikeouts with 95 in just 53.1 innings, and was the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Month for March. Govel had only given up 1 earned run in his first 5 starts, but has given up 3 or more in his last 3 starts, so he is gettable.
After making last season’s All Big Ten Freshman team, Andrew Johnson has been just as good to start 2026. He’s struck out 47 in 46.1 innings and has put up a solid start other than a start at the little league field at Maryland, and against the UCLA juggernaut offense. He has a lot of length, so the coaches aren’t scared to let him go over 100 pitches.
Scouting Report
The Trojan offense is pretty mediocre statistically, down in most categories from a season ago. They have faced some pretty good pitching staffs, especially in their mid week games against the non-power 4 California teams. If there is one thing they are good at, it is not striking out. They are the 2nd hardest team to strike out in the Big Ten.
Second baseman Abbrie Covarrubias is the Trojans’ leadoff batter. After being 3rd team All-Big Ten in 2025, his hitting numbers are down almost across the board. He is batting .266 with 5 doubles and 2 home runs. Where he is a real issue on the basepaths, leading the team with 14 steals on 18 attempts.
After being forced to miss a lot of time in 2025 due to a separated shoulder, center fielder Kevin Takeuchi has really raised his game this season. He leads the team, and is the only .300 hitter on the USC roster at .312. He also leads the team with 10 doubles and has 2 home runs and 31 RBIs.
The biggest power bat in the Trojan lineup is catcher/DH Augie Lopez. The sophomore was on the All-Freshman Big Ten Team last season, and despite being only 6’1 180 lbs, can really hit. He leads the team with 11 home runs and 33 RBIs. Lopez bats .277 and has 8 doubles. He has a 1.002 OPS, which also lead the team.
The USC bullpen is ok, but doesn’t really have to do a lot of heavy lifting with how deep their starters going so deep into games. After losing star two way player and closer Ethan Hedges, USC went and got Pepperdine closer Adam Troy. Troy leads the team with 10 saves on the season and has struck out 22 and walked 10 in 20.2 innings.
Sophomore Sax Matson leads the team in appearances, with 23. He has struck out an incredible 43 batters in 27 innings, walking 14. The big lefty has a 4.00 ERA on the season and will be seen twice this weekend, if they need the relief help. The next middle relief arm we will see is freshman Gavin Lauridsen. Lauridsen has struck out 27 in 28.1 innings of work across 16 appearances in his first year on campus.
The Trojans field an elite defense, with a 98.0% fielding percentage, good for 5th in the conference.
Series History
USC has a 4-3 lead in the all time series after taking 2 out of 3 games in LA last season. The teams have never met in Lincoln.
On Deck
News on the injury front:
- Will Jesske has just kinda been on the verge for about a month now. Just when it seems he is getting to where he is safe, he tweaks it again. Coach Bolt joked about putting a shock collar on him at this point to keep him from trying to leg out a double, or beat out an infield hit. Bolt said he would be a factor this week.
- Devin Nunez is recovering from hamate surgery, and will take some batting practice in the next week. He has had a shoulder issue all season, so the coaches will see if they think he can help them at all this season, or decide to get shoulder surgery and officially shut him down.
- Auden Pankonin is a Freshman RHP the team thought could make an impact this year. He’s finally been throwing bullpen sessions lately, and may face live hitters in the next week. Pankonin is said to be feeling good and throws a low 90s sinker to go with a big slider. There is a place for that currently.
