USC walks off Washington in Big Ten Tournament on close home plate slide by Ethan Hedges

USC and Washington both entered Friday’s Big Ten Tournament showdown needing a win. It was the Trojans who rose above to get the job done in exciting fashion.

It was a wild one, as USC raced out to a three-run lead, but the Huskies, led by their freshly minted all-time home run leader in AJ Guerrero, battled back. Utilizing a five-run fifth inning, they carried a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth. As fate would have it, USC never gave in, and Adrian Lopez came up with a huge two-RBI double to walk it off for his team

The winning run was scored by Ethan Hedges, and it couldn’t have been much closer. Check out the play at the plate that clinched a victory over Washington for the Trojans on Friday below.

TROJANS WALK IT OFF!!! TROJANS WALK IT OFF!!! 😤

Adrian Lopez wins it in the ninth with his third double of the day and Hedges scores from first! ✌️#FightOn x @alopez1100 pic.twitter.com/6g67GDKTLo

— USC Baseball (@USC_Baseball) May 23, 2025

Prior to Friday’s showdown, USC fell to Penn State by one run in their first game of pool play. The Nittany Lions broke the opening tie with an RBI single from Bryce Molinaro in the top of the first inning, but the Trojans matched the run in the bottom of the following inning in similar fashion — an RBI single by Brayden Dowd, this time with the bases loaded. 

Later, Nate Voss would step to the plate with two away in the top of the ninth inning, and would proceed to belt a breaking ball to deep left field for the no-doubt, go-ahead home run to give the Nittany Lions the lead. Bat flip included. It was the eighth home run of the season for Voss as the Nittany Lions took Pool B.

As for Washington, the Huskies also fell to the Nittany Lions. Penn State jumped ahead with a 5-0 lead entering the eighth inning before the Huskies finally got on the board, but it wasn’t enough to overcome.

Penn State junior southpaw Ryan DeSanto scattered three hits across 5.2 innings of work for the win, while Ryan Weingartner belted a solo home run and Bryce Molinario added a two-RBI sacrifice fly as part of a three-run sixth inning to pull away for good. Washington was led offensively by the aforementioned Guerrero, who finished 4-for-5 at the plate with a two-RBI home run in the eighth before adding a RBI-single in the ninth for the Huskies’ only runs.

Both USC and Washington didn’t have a shot at the Semifinals, but now they’ll await seeing whether their season will continue. The Trojans can hold their head high after Friday’s win, though, which is music to their ears.