Usc Baseball gets a second shot at Texas State on Sunday, with the College Station Regional hanging in the balance. The Trojans and Bobcats will meet in Game 5 at Blue Bell Park in College Station, Texas, in an elimination game that sends the winner on to face Texas A&M and sends the loser home.
The rematch begins at 1 p.m. PT and will stream on +. USC is favored at -238, even though Texas State already beat the Trojans 5-4 in Game 2 and held off a late push with two runs in the ninth. That first meeting was tight from the start to finish, but the Bobcats made it stand up.
USC arrives with some offense to lean on after routing Lamar University 19-6 in the losers bracket, while Texas State was pushed back by a 17-2 loss to Texas A&M. What makes Sunday more than a routine rebound game is that the bracket has narrowed to one clean outcome: the winner stays alive and gets another chance against the Aggies in Game 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. PT.
The numbers from the first meeting still explain why USC is getting another chance. The Trojans stranded 13 runners on base, went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and still managed 10 hits and four walks. They also struck out 12 times. Texas State, meanwhile, used five pitchers to protect the one-run lead and finish the upset.
That is the friction inside Sunday’s rematch. USC has the market edge, but Texas State already showed it can survive the first punch and answer back when the game turns late. The Trojans now have to prove the first loss was an exception, not the shape of the matchup. For the Bobcats, one more clean inning is enough to keep playing. For USC, it is the only route left to stay in the tournament and reach the regional final.
