The USC Trojans baseball program represents the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

. Established in 1888, the team is a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

and the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. USC’s home field is Dedeaux Field, which is named in honor of former head coach and

National College Baseball Hall of Fame The National College Baseball Hall of Fame is an institution operated by the College Baseball Foundation serving as the central point for the study of the history of college baseball in the United States. In partnership with the Southwest Collect ...

inductee Rod Dedeaux. The USC Trojans are one of the most successful programs in the history of college baseball. The Trojans have won more baseball national championships than any other program across all divisions of college baseball. With 12 national championships, USC is far and away the leader in that category; no other Division I school has more than seven. As of June 14, 2021, USC also ranked fifth in all-time

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

(CWS) appearances with 21, trailing only

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(37), Miami (FL) (25),

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

(23), and Arizona State (22). The Trojans have won more individual CWS games (74) than any program but Texas (85). USC also ranks fourth in all-time NCAA tournament wins with 173—trailing only Texas (245), Florida State (199), and Miami (194)—and 10th in total NCAA tournament appearances with 37. The Trojans have compiled an all-time record of 2,944–1,745–29 ()—ranking sixth in all-time wins and 22nd in all-time win percentage—and have captured outright or tied for 38 conference championships, as of the end of the 2021 season. USC's most notable baseball coach was Rod Dedeaux, who coached from 1942 to 1986 and led the school to 11 of its NCAA championships, including five straight from 1970 to 1974. The first Trojan national championship came in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. The 12th and most recent NCAA championship came in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

History

The early years

The Trojans began recognizing baseball as a school sport in 1889. As with many programs during the late 19th century and early 20th century, the Trojans lacked a consistent head coach, when they even had one at all. It was not until 1908 that the Trojans had an official head coach, Harvey Holmes, but Holmes only coached the team for one year. Holmes also coached other sports at USC including football and track. The team would get another coach during the 1911 season, Curtiss Bernard. Bernard also only coached for a year, and in 1912 the Trojans once again had a one-year coach in Len Burrell. During the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

years, the USC baseball team was made up mostly of law school students, but the team opened up to all students for the 1916 and 1917 seasons. Following the conclusion of the war, the baseball team was coached by "Gloomy Gus" Henderson in 1920 (who would also coach the Trojan basketball team for two years and the football team for six). Henderson would join forces with Willis Hunter as co-coaches for the 1921 season, but the team was left without a coach for the 1922 season. In 1923 the team was coached by George Wheeler, who also coached the law students during the 1914 season. Wheeler coached the team for a year, and would mark the last time the Trojan baseball team has lacked consistency at the coaching position.

Sam Crawford era

Long-time

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player and multiple MLB record-holder

Sam Crawford Samuel Earl Crawford (April 18, 1880 – June 15, 1968), nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Crawford batted and threw left-handed, stood tall and weighed . Born in Wahoo, Nebraska, he had a sh ...

took over as head coach of USC baseball in 1924. Crawford would mark the end of inconsistency at the coaching ranks for the baseball program. During his tenure, the program slowly began to rise to national prominence, and Crawford helped to create the

California Intercollegiate Baseball Association The California Intercollegiate Baseball Association was a college baseball association that competed under the Pacific Coast Conference, much like a 'division' in modern-day college athletic conferences. The association was formed in 1927 by Southe ...

(CIBA) in 1927. Crawford coached the Trojans for six years before turning the reigns over to

Sam Barry Justin McCarthy "Sam" Barry (December 17, 1892 – September 23, 1950) was an American collegiate coach who achieved significant accomplishments in three major sports - football, baseball, and basketball. He remains one of only three coaches ...

. Crawford compiled an overall record of 59-46-3, including a second-place finish during the initial campaign for the CIBA.

Sam Barry era

In 1930, Sam Barry took over the USC baseball program and immediately built off of the success his predecessor had. On his arrival at USC in 1929, he was named head basketball coach and was made an assistant for the USC football team under his friend and colleague, Howard Jones. When Jones died suddenly in 1941, Barry was named his successor, and served as head coach for all three major USC sports teams simultaneously. Barry won the CIBA title in his first year, finishing 11–2 and 25–5–1 overall. During the next decade, Barry would claim four more CIBA titles. Barry coached the Trojans from 1930–1941 before joining the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As he left, he recommended that Jeff Cravath become the head football coach, Julie Bescos become the head basketball coach, and Rod Dedeaux, the captain of his 1935 team, become the head baseball coach. Upon his return, Barry would resume coaching the Trojans alongside Dedeaux. Barry finished with a career mark of 219–89–3. He remains one of only three coaches to coach a

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

game and in a College World Series. Barry was elected to the inaugural class of the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

Hall of Fame in 1966.

Barry-Dedeaux years

When Sam Barry returned from World War II in 1946, Barry and Dedeaux served as co-coaches, with Dedeaux running the team each year until Barry finished the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

season. The arrangement was so successful that USC won the College World Series in 1948.

1948 National Championship

After finishing the season 40–12–1, USC met

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

for the 1948 NCAA Division I baseball championship at the second College World Series. The CWS in 1948 was a best 2-out-of-3 format. The games were played on June 25 and June 26, with June 26 being a doubleheader if necessary. USC won the first game, 3–1 to take a 1–0 series lead, but lost game 2 by a score of 8–3. The third and final game immediately followed game 2. USC scored a run in the first inning to claim a lead it would not surrender. USC claimed their first national championship with a game 3 victory, 9–2. Although USC won, they were unable to prevent future President of the United States of America, George Bush, from collecting a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in the final game.

Rod Dedeaux era

After being co-head coach in 1942 with his former college coach Sam Barry, Dedeaux took over the USC program in 1943. Barry recommended Dedeaux to coach the team when Sam Barry joined the Navy. Dedeaux coached the Trojans by himself for the next three years, until once again joining forces with Barry as co-head coaches. After Barry's death in September 1950, Dedeaux became the sole coach of USC baseball. After taking over in 1951, Dedeaux became the sole coach and proceeded to build on the early success to establish the strongest program in collegiate baseball. The Trojans claimed 11 straight CIBA championships in Dedeaux's first 11 years. The Trojans claimed nine outright titles and tied for first in 1953 and 1957. Following the 1957 campaign, Dedeaux's team finished the season 36–8 overall and earned the first of his 10 national championships as sole coach.

1958 National Championship

1961 National Championship

1963 National Championship

1968 National Championship

1970 National Championship

1971 National Championship

1972 National Championship

1973 National Championship

1974 National Championship

1978 National Championship

Retirement and legacy

After a total of 45 years as head coach of USC, Dedeaux decided to retire following the 1986 campaign. Dedeaux drastically changed college baseball and left historic marks on the sport that might never be touched. Dedeaux won a total of 11 national championships, 10 by himself and one with Sam Barry, compiled a record of 1,332–571–11, and completed a stretch of 37 years without a losing season. He retired as the winningest coach in college baseball history and held that distinction until 1994 when Texas head coach Cliff Gustafson broke it. While he was at USC, Dedeaux also served as coach of the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United S ...

at both the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, and the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, with baseball being a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

prior to its elevation to full medal status in 1988. Following his retirement, Dedeaux became the Director of Baseball for USC, and for the rest of his life remained a beloved annual presence at the College World Series in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. The field the Trojans currently play their games at is named after him. He was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame in 1970, and in 1999 was named the Coach of the Century by ''Collegiate Baseball'' magazine. Dedeaux died at age 91 in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, of complications from a December 2, 2005,

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He was survived by his wife of 66 years, the former Helen Jones, and their four children. On July 4, 2006, Dedeaux was inducted as a member of the first class of inductees into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Post Rod Dedeaux

Mike Gillespie

USC reached out to Mike Gillespie, one of Rod Dedeaux's former players, to replace the recently retired coach. Gillespie played under Dedeaux from 1960–1962, and after a successful coaching stint at the

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loca ...

, he was named just the fourth head coach of USC baseball since 1924.

=1998 National Championship

= Gillespie was named National Coach of the Year in 1998.

=Retirement and legacy

= After 20 years as the head coach of the Trojans, Gillespie decided to retire following the 2006 season. During his career, Gillespie kept Trojan baseball in the spotlight, especially in the years leading up to and following the 1998 championship. He finished with an overall record of 763–471–2 during his tenure as coach of the Trojans. As a result of his success, Gillespie earned the honor to coach the 2000 USA National Team. During his tenure he was named Pac-10 coach of the year four times, while his teams produced 44 All-America selections, 94 draft picks, and 25 Major League players. After sitting out the 2007 season, Gillespie was named coach of the UC Irvine Anteaters in September 2007. Gillespie replaced Dave Serrano, who had just guided the Anteaters to their first CWS appearance but left to take over at

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

, his alma mater, after George Horton left Fullerton to head the new program at

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Chad Kreuter

In June 2006, Chad Kreuter became only the fifth man to earn the title of head baseball coach at USC since 1924. Kreuter replaced his father-in-law, Mike Gillespie, after Gillespie retired. Kreuter failed to reach the postseason in each of his four years as head coach. He produced an overall record of 111–117 during this time, never posting a winning record. During his tenure, the Trojans twice finished in last place in the Pac-10, and never higher than fifth in the conference. Although his players flourished in the classroom, he came under heavy criticism late in his tenure. He was relieved of his duties in August 2010 and replaced by assistant coach and former

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

head coach Frank Cruz.

2010s

On May 30, 2019, Dan Hubbs was informed that his contract would not be renewed by the university. On June 14, 2019, former Loyola Marymount head coach Jason Gill was hired to be the head coach for the Trojans.

Jason Gill

On June 14, 2019, Former

head coach Jason Gill was hired to be the new head coach of the USC Trojans baseball program.

Ballparks

Bovard Field

Bovard Field was the former home of USC baseball until Dedeaux Field opened in 1974. The baseball field was aligned (home to center field) similar to Dedeaux Field, but a few degrees clockwise, nearly true north, but just slightly west. Home plate was located in today's E.F. Hutton Park and left field was bounded by Watt Way. Beyond first base, a large eucalyptus tree came into play; while its trunk was in foul territory, some of its branches crossed into fair territory and guarded the foul line in shallow right field.

Dedeaux Field

Dedeaux Field is the home field for the USC Trojans baseball team. It is named after the former legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux, who coached from 1942 to 1986. The Trojans moved into the ballpark in 1974, the same year that they won their fifth consecutive national championship. After many renovations, the current capacity is 2,500 people.

Head coaches

*''Records are through March 11, 2020''

Year-by-Year Results

''Through the end of the 2021 season.''
''Final Rankings are from Collegiate Baseball Division I Final Polls (1959–2006)''

National Championships

USC in the NCAA tournament

*The

NCAA Division I baseball tournament The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series (MCWS) at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Oma ...

started in 1947. *The format of the tournament has changed through the years.

NCAA records

Individual records

Team records

Player awards

All-Americans

The following is a listing of first team selections. Other selections are available at USC's official website. *1948 : Wally Hood (p) - ABCA : Art Mazmanian (2b) - ABCA : Hank Workman (of) - ABCA *1949 : Jim Brideweser (p) - ABCA *1950 :Jay Roundy (of) - ABCA *1952 :Hal Charnofsky (ss) - ABCA *1953 :Ed Simpson (1b) - ABCA *1956 : Kent Hadley (1b) - ABCA *1957 :Bill Olson (cf) - ABCA *1958 :Jerry Siegert (of) - ABCA *1959 : Bill Thom (p) - ABCA : Johnny Werhas (3b) - ABCA *1960 :Bruce Gardner (p) - ABCA *1961 :Willie Ryan (1b) - ABCA *1964 :Walt Peterson (p) - ABCA *1970 : Brent Strom (p) - ABCA *1971 : Steve Busby (p) - ABCA *1972 :

Fred Lynn Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952) is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), mostly with the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels. He was the first player to wi ...

(of) - ABCA *1973 : Roy Smalley (ss) - ABCA *1974 : Rich Dauer (3b) - ABCA *1975 : Steve Kemp () - ABCA *1978 : Bill Bordley (p) - ABCA *1981 :Dan Davidsmeier (ss) - ABCA *1984 :

Mark McGwire Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Card ...

(1b) - ABCA & BA *1988 : Jim Campanis (c) - BA *1991 : Mark Smith (of) - BA & CB *1995 : Gabe Alvarez (ss) - ABCA : Geoff Jenkins (of) - BA & CB *1998 : Seth Etherton (p) - ABCA, BA, & CB :Jack Krawczyk (p) - ABCA & CB *1999 :

Barry Zito Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. His pitching repertoire consisted of a curveball ...

(p) - ABCA, BA, & CB *2001 : Mark Prior (p) - ABCA, BA, & CB *2005 : Jeff Clement (c) - ABCA, BA, & CB : Ian Kennedy (p) - BA & CB Legend *ABCA =

*BA = Baseball America *CB = Collegiate Baseball

All-College World Series

*1958 :Mike Castanon (2b) :Fred Scott (ss) : Ron Fairly (of) : Bill Thom^ (p) *1960 :William Ryan (1b) :Bob Levingston (of) :Mickey McNamee (of) :Art Ersepke (of) :Bill Heath (c) :Bruce Gardner (p) *1961 :William Ryan (1b) :Art Ersepke (of) : Larry Himes (c) :Jim Withers (p) :Larry Hankammer (p) *1963 : Gary Holman (1b) : Kenny Washington (of) : Buddy Hollowell^ (c) :Walt Peterson (p) *1964 :

Gary Sutherland Gary Lynn Sutherland (September 27, 1944 – December 16, 2024), nicknamed "Sudsy", was an American professional baseball middle infielder. He player 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1966 to 1978 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Mo ...

(ss) : Willy Brown (of) *1966 :John Stewart (p) *1968 : Bill Seinsoth^* (1b) : Bill Lee (p) *1970 :Frank Alfano (2b) :Dan Stoligrosz (3b) : Jim Barr (p) *1971 :Frank Alfano (2b) :

* (of) :Mark Sogge (p) *1972 :Daryl Arenstein (1b) : Tim Steele (of) :Sam Ceci (c) : Russ McQueen^* (p) *1973 :Rod Smalley* (ss) :Ken Huizenga (of) :Randy Scarbery (c) *1974 :Rob Adolph (2b) : Rich Dauer (3b) : Marvin Cobb (ss) :Bob Mitchell (of) : George Milke^ (p) : Mark Barr (p) *1978 :

Dave Hostetler David Alan Hostetler (born March 27, 1956) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter who played for the Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He also played f ...

(1b) :Doug Stokke (ss) : Tim Tolman (if) : John Wells (cf) : Rod Boxberger^ (p) *1995 : Geoff Jenkins* (of) : Randy Flores (p) : Wes Rachels (if) *1995 : Rod Dedeaux~ Head Coach *1998 :Robb Gorr (1b) :Jack Krawczyk (p) : Jason Lane (dh) : Eric Munson (c) :Wes Rachels^ (2b) :Brad Ticehurst (of) Legend *^ denotes player was named MOP of the College World Series ** denotes selection to College World Series All-Decade team *~ denotes selection to All-Time College World Series team

Johnny Bench Award

*2005: Jeff Clement *2015: Garrett Stubbs

Notable players

* Brian Bannister *

Aaron Boone Aaron John Boone (born March 9, 1973) is an American professional baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 13 seasons from 1997 to 2009. As ...

* Bret Boone * Don Buford * Jeff Cirillo * Ron Fairly * Kent Hadley * Geoff Jenkins *

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...

* Jacque Jones * Steve Kemp * Dave Kingman * Barry Latman *

* Mark Prior * Blake Sabol *

Tom Seaver George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cin ...

* Al Silvera * Roy Smalley *

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:USC Trojans Baseball