Friday, February 14
Irvine, CA
9:30 p.m.
George Washington University
at
USC
Baseball Opens 2025 on West Coast at USC
2/13/2025 12:59:00 PM | Baseball
WASHINGTON – The George Washington baseball team is set to open the 2025 campaign this weekend, battling the University of Southern California in a three-game series starting on Friday. The game will be held in Irvine, CA at Orange County Great Park as USC undergoes renovations to its on campus facility this season. Gametime for Opening Day is set for 9:30 p.m., with the series extending into Saturday (5:00 p.m.) and Sunday (4:00 p.m.). All games will be available to stream on Big Ten Plus.
GW returns to the diamond after being picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, announced by the conference on Wednesday. Picked in front of the GW Revs were the reigning A-10 Champions, VCU, who were tied with Richmond with 125 total points. Saint Louis was picked third with 124 points, while GW tallied 104 points in the four-spot.
GW's weekend rotation is highlighted by Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team honoree Michael Foltz, who looks to follow up a breakout campaign a season ago. Foltz is scheduled to be GW's Opening Day starter after finishing 2024 with a 5-1 record on the mound, tossing 74.1 total innings and recording a team-best 2.92 ERA. Foltz held opposing batters to a career-best and team-low .176 average and pitched GW's only complete game in a 9-1 win over Dayton in the second round of the A-10 postseason tournament. Teddy Brennan is slated to pitch on Saturday for GW after recording two wins in 2024. Brennan punched out 75 batters in 73.0 innings of work, holding hitters to a .257 average. Shugy Klein is set for the Sunday nod in what would be his fourth career start. Klein tallied eight strikeouts in 12.0 innings last year.
On offense, Ellis Schwartz, Robbie Lavey and Sam Gates all return following stellar 2024 seasons. Schwartz was the team leader in batting average, boasting a .356 line in 56 games. He recorded 72 hits, including 18 for extra bases, 43 RBI and 45 runs scored. Lavey was a welcome addition to the squad as a rookie last year, tallying a .318 average with 54 hits. He drove in 24 runs and scored 32 of his own. Gates, who set the program record with 24 doubles last season, slashed for a .307 line with 74 hits. He tallied 41 RBI, 45 runs scored and a team-best seven home runs.
USC enters a new era on Friday, playing its first game as a member of the Big Ten. Led by third-year Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz, the Trojans advanced to the 2024 Pac-12 Championship Game, ultimately falling to 18th-ranked Arizona to conclude their season. The 12-time national champions return second-year player Kevin Takeuchi, who led all returners in batting average a season ago. Takeuchi tallied a .289 batting average, recording 52 hits and driving in 40 RBI. Dean Carpenter also made an impact in his rookie season, tallying a .287 batting average with 43 hits and 26 RBI.
The Trojans' pitching staff is expected to start junior transfer Caden Hunter on opening day. The 6' 2" lefty spent two years at Sierra College before joining USC out of the portal. Caden Aoki is scheduled for the start on Saturday. The senior is entering his third year with the program after playing his first-year campaign with Notre Dame. Jackson Baker is scheduled to make his first career start with USC Sunday. The sophomore right-hander transferred to LA after one year at Alabama.
GW returns to the diamond after being picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, announced by the conference on Wednesday. Picked in front of the GW Revs were the reigning A-10 Champions, VCU, who were tied with Richmond with 125 total points. Saint Louis was picked third with 124 points, while GW tallied 104 points in the four-spot.
GW's weekend rotation is highlighted by Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team honoree Michael Foltz, who looks to follow up a breakout campaign a season ago. Foltz is scheduled to be GW's Opening Day starter after finishing 2024 with a 5-1 record on the mound, tossing 74.1 total innings and recording a team-best 2.92 ERA. Foltz held opposing batters to a career-best and team-low .176 average and pitched GW's only complete game in a 9-1 win over Dayton in the second round of the A-10 postseason tournament. Teddy Brennan is slated to pitch on Saturday for GW after recording two wins in 2024. Brennan punched out 75 batters in 73.0 innings of work, holding hitters to a .257 average. Shugy Klein is set for the Sunday nod in what would be his fourth career start. Klein tallied eight strikeouts in 12.0 innings last year.
On offense, Ellis Schwartz, Robbie Lavey and Sam Gates all return following stellar 2024 seasons. Schwartz was the team leader in batting average, boasting a .356 line in 56 games. He recorded 72 hits, including 18 for extra bases, 43 RBI and 45 runs scored. Lavey was a welcome addition to the squad as a rookie last year, tallying a .318 average with 54 hits. He drove in 24 runs and scored 32 of his own. Gates, who set the program record with 24 doubles last season, slashed for a .307 line with 74 hits. He tallied 41 RBI, 45 runs scored and a team-best seven home runs.
USC enters a new era on Friday, playing its first game as a member of the Big Ten. Led by third-year Head Coach Andy Stankiewicz, the Trojans advanced to the 2024 Pac-12 Championship Game, ultimately falling to 18th-ranked Arizona to conclude their season. The 12-time national champions return second-year player Kevin Takeuchi, who led all returners in batting average a season ago. Takeuchi tallied a .289 batting average, recording 52 hits and driving in 40 RBI. Dean Carpenter also made an impact in his rookie season, tallying a .287 batting average with 43 hits and 26 RBI.
The Trojans' pitching staff is expected to start junior transfer Caden Hunter on opening day. The 6' 2" lefty spent two years at Sierra College before joining USC out of the portal. Caden Aoki is scheduled for the start on Saturday. The senior is entering his third year with the program after playing his first-year campaign with Notre Dame. Jackson Baker is scheduled to make his first career start with USC Sunday. The sophomore right-hander transferred to LA after one year at Alabama.
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