Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that USC backup quarterback and former Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain is exploring the possibility of playing baseball for the Trojans in the spring. According to Mustain, he had a 0.90 ERA in his last high school season and already has spoke with USC pitching coach Tom House about the possibility.

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Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com continues his series of articles on conferences across the country heading into Fall Practice. Today, he checks in on the Pac-10 conference which he states is looking to rebuild after Arizona State made the College World Series last season. After the Sun Devils, there was a significant drop-off in the conference with Washington State coming in second place.

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Head coach Chad Kreuter has put together what looks to be a challenging 2010 schedule for the USC Trojans.  The Trojans will begin the season on the road at Cal Poly (Feb. 19-21) before the home opener at Dedeaux Field against UC Irvine (Feb. 23).  USC will then take part in the UCLA Tournament against Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, and UCLA (Feb. 26-28), followed by a mid-week road game at Long Beach State (March 2).

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The Okotoks Dawgs swept their series against the Moose Jaw Miller Express, 2-1, 10-5, and 5-4. Jeff Duda (Campbellsville) pitched a four-hit complete game in the first game, struck out 11. The Dawgs trailed 1-0 going into the seventh inning, but they tied it in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Mac Sullivan (USC), and won it on the eighth on an RBI double by Jeremy Shelby (Grambling State). In the third game, Manny Kumar (Grambling State) scored the winning run on a passed ball. The Dawgs will play the Medicine Hat Mavericks in the semifinal playoff round; the series starts Thursday, August 6 at Okotoks.

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Bend Elks 3, Bellingham Bells 2 (13 innings)

Another West Coast League game, and extra innings. CF Lucas Hileman (Baylor) came home on a wild pitch by Mitch Ludtke (Skagit Valley CC) to provide the winning run in the top of the 13th.

Both teams got excellent efforts from their starters, although they were long gone before it was over. Bend’s Peter Lavin (San Francisco) allowed eight hits over eight innings, and Bellingham’s Tyrell Poggemeyer (Skagit Valley CC, transferring to Lewis-Clark State) allowed five hits over seven innings. After giving up runs in the first two innings on RBI single by RF Cal Towey (Baylor)  and 2B Colin Stock (Saint Mary’s) coming in on a double steal, Poggemeyer retired 17 of the next 18 batters he faced.

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The Okotoks Dawgs won five of six over the past week, running their record to 27-11. They now lead the West Division by 6.5 games. They also continue to draw good crowds; 2,063 for a 5-3 win over the Medicine Hat Mavericks (Jake Bottari [College of Idaho] got the win) and 2,352 for an 11-10 win over the Lethbridge Bulls. Jeff Duda (Campbellsville) got a 7-0 shutout at the Edmonton Prospects, and leads the team in W-L (6-1), ERA (2.29). He leads the league in strikeouts (80), and has issued only nine walks in 70 2/3 innings pitched. Duda pitched the first eight innings of a 12-inning 3-2 win at Medicine Hat; Mac Sullivan (USC) hit a home run to win it, and Lee Ingram (Thompson Rivers) got the win. Manny Kumar (Grambling State) singled in the winning run in a 12-inning 3-2 win at Lethbridge. Anthony Cros (Northwest Oklahoma State) continues to lead the Dawgs in hitting, with an average of .398. Read the rest of this entry »

Picture courtesy of Stanford

Might we have an actual battle for the Pac-10 crown? Well, Arizona St. still has a two-game lead in the conference race, but that’s the smallest lead they’ve had in weeks and second-place Washington St. is playing good ball. While those two do battle atop the conference, Oregon St. has seemingly wrapped up a regional bid, UCLA suffered a debilitating series loss to Cal last weekend and quietly Stanford has themselves back in the hunt for a regional berth. All of those teams are in action this weekend as eight teams playing in four Pac-10 series, while Cal takes the weekend off and UCLA plays three with #4 Cal St. Fullerton. Read the rest of this entry »

We get a bit of a break this weekend from Pac-10 play as four teams have a bye in the conference schedule that they will fill with non-conference opponents. There are only three Pac-10 series on the slate this weekend, but each includes one of the three teams battling it out for second place in the conference (with an outside shot at first place). Those three teams, UCLA, Washington St. and Oregon St., play teams they should take the series from, but if one can come up with a sweep they could get some breathing room for that coveted second place spot.

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By: Ryan Rosenblatt

Matt Way of Washington State

It’s week six of the Pac 10 season and all eyes are on Los Angeles where a pair of series will have a major impact on both the Pac 10 standings and the regional prospects of some conference teams. Washington St. visits LA and Dedeaux Field where they will take on a USC team in a series that could determine which team makes a regional. Both teams are either one of the last five in or last five out in just about every regional projection and with the Pac 10 looking ever more like a three bid league, this weekend’s series could determine which club gets that berth. On the other side of town, #25 Oregon St. visits UCLA for three games at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Oregon St.’s series loss last weekend allowed Washington St. to move into a tie for second place with the Beavers, while UCLA’s sweep of Washington has them tied for fourth with USC. Elsewhere, Stanford will visit Arizona in a match-up of struggling teams, Call will look to slow down streaking #3 Arizona St. at home and Washington will head to Oregon. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Ryan Rosenblatt

(Courtesy of USC Media Relations)

Arizona St. continues to roll, USC enhances their regional chances with a series win in Corvallis, Arizona’s still awful in Pullman, UCLA picks up a sweep and Cal gets their first series win in a month. It was a weekend of sweeps in the Pac 10 as three of the five series saw one side go 3-0. rather boring week in the Pac 10 this weekend as each series went to the favorite with exception of USC taking two of three from Oregon St., but the implications of the weekend are wide-ranging. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Ryan Rosenblatt

As we head into week five of the Pac 10 season, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the conference is in the midst of a major down year. We knew the conference would take a step back, but it’s gone to an extreme this year and right now it looks like only two teams, Arizona St. and Oregon St., will make a regional. There are a few teams trying to salvage what’s left of their season and make a late run for that third place conference finish and possible regional spot that could go with it. Those clubs are Washington St., Stanford and USC and each one of them dearly needs to pick up a series win this weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

Huskie Jason Erickson

Erickson Deals Golden Bears 6-2 Loss
SEATTLE – Jake Rife hit a double and a home run and Jason Erickson turned in the longest start of the year by a Husky pitcher as the Washington baseball team beat California, 6-2, in a Pac-10 game Friday night at Husky Ballpark. [READ MORE] Read the rest of this entry »