Timmy Robinson kickstarted an offensive explosion for the Trojans Friday night. (Charlie Magovern/Neon Tommy)

Timmy Robinson launched a grand slam to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning, the first of two five-run innings, to lead USC (28-9) to a 13-5 win over Oregon (22-17). 

Of the grand slam, Robinson said, “We’ve been working on myself staying short and loose…and it started to click a lot better today…I just stayed within myself, stayed smooth, and connected.”

Although Robinson was removed from the game late as the Trojans built a huge lead, he still finished with a career-high five RBI. 

Junior Brent Wheatley got off to a rough start for USC on the mound, letting up four runs in the first inning, but the Trojans responded with three in the bottom of the inning. Wheatley had a 2.70 ERA for the Trojans coming into the game, but only lasted 3 2/3 innings against Oregon.

On the flip side, the bullpen was lights out. Tyler Gilbert came in to get the last out in the fourth, and continued to pitch great, allowing only two hits and one run over three and two-thirds, lowering his ERA to 2.15 on the season. The bullpen as a whole pitched outstanding, letting up just the one run over 5 1/3.

Coach Hubbs was really happy with how the bullpen pitched, especially after the four runs the Ducks scored in the first inning: “Brent didn’t pitch well, and then we booted the double play behind him. That would’ve made it maybe a one-run inning…We’re fortunate that we have guys like Tyler [Gilbert] who are stretched out and can come in an early situation and extend the game and feel like we aren’t losing anything when we put in a reliever.” 

This was one of the key differences in the game, as the Oregon bullpen was not sharp, allowing five runs in four and a third innings. But props should be given to the Trojan hitters as they were consistently pounding the ball all over the diamond. They had multiple five-run innings and scored 13 runs for the fourth time this year. 

The hitting was great to see for Coach Hubbs and the Trojans, as they had just come off a game in which they did not score a single run until the 12th inning. It was nice to see the bats come alive as the last third of the season begins. 

SEE MORE: Trojans Lose First Series Of Season To UCLA

One of the key things the Trojans did, was respond after Oregon scored. The Ducks scored four in the first, but USC responded with three in the bottom of the inning. In the other inning the Ducks scored, they put up one run in the seventh and the Trojans came right back with five in the bottom of the inning. 

Coach Hubbs agreed, “Those were some of the biggest things, that we were able to answer when they scored.” 

The game was sloppy at first, as the Ducks had two errors early and the Trojans had one of their own. Both teams scored an unearned run in the first inning, and both teams took advantage of walks by the opposing pitcher. 

But after the shaky start, the game settled down and the Trojans especially had some key defensive plays. The biggest play of the game defensively was Blake Lacey gunning down a runner out at the plate in the seventh inning, in a play that would have cut the lead to two. 

Coach Hubbs was impressed with the defense tonight and stressed its importance.

“I thought Lacey made a hell of a play, throwing the guy out at the plate," Hubbs explained. "To be accurate and throwing to Stubbs to get the catch-tag to keep it 8-5 from 8-6, that’s a huge play right there. If he throws it wild that makes it 8-6 and that’s a whole different game.” 

The bats were alive today up and down the lineup, but Robinson was the big hero.

After the game he came out sporting a shirt reading “No Media!” and when asked about it, he simply said it’s about playing for the team.

“Just a thing that our team likes to say," Robinson clarified. "To remind us that we play for each other, and not for everybody outside of the field.”

This team is loose, confident, and has displayed a theme of playing for each other. There’s no reason why the Trojans shouldn’t make some noise in the rest of the regular season and postseason as well.