Stankiewicz takes charge of struggling Trojans program
USC announced its new head baseball coach Sunday, hiring former major leaguer Andy Stankiewicz after he spent 11 seasons in the same role at Grand Canyon.
Stankiewicz, 57, is a four-time Western Athletic Conference coach of the year and led Grand Canyon to postseason appearances in each of the last two seasons.
“Andy has a proven record of success in building a winning program,” USC athletic director Mike Bohn said in a statement. “Andy’s leadership, relationship-building abilities, and player development make him a terrific fit to lead our program. Furthermore, his integrity and commitment to student-athletes align perfectly with our vision and guiding principles.”
Replacing Jason Gill after his three seasons at the helm of the Trojans, Stankiewicz comes to Los Angeles after winning five regular-season WAC titles. In 2021, he helped Grand Canyon to its first Division I postseason appearance by winning the conference tournament.
After a 41-21 record in 2022, Stankiewicz’s team earned an at-large bid to the postseason tournament, eight years after he helped guide Grand Canyon through the transition from Division II to Division I.
He inherits a USC program that has won a record 12 College World Series titles but has not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2015, or won a regular-season conference title since 2002. And he again is expected to be at the helm of a program during a transition as USC moves to the Big Ten for the 2025 baseball season.
Prior to Grand Canyon, Stankiewicz served as minor league field coordinator for the Seattle Mariners and as a coach at Arizona State from 2007-09.
An Inglewood native, Stankiewicz played football and baseball at St. Paul High in Santa Fe Springs before going to Pepperdine for baseball. A 12th-round pick in the 1986 MLB draft, Stankiewicz spent six seasons in the minors before being called up and playing seven seasons with the Yankees, Astros, Expos and Diamondbacks.
Triston McKenzie shut down New York’s big-bashing lineup over seven innings in a combined one-hitter and closer Emmanuel Clase survived a harrowing ninth, giving the Cleveland Guardians a 2-0 win over the visiting Yankees on Sunday.
Franmil Reyes drove in both Cleveland runs — homering in the fourth and hitting an RBI single in the eighth — as the Guardians salvaged the series finale.
McKenzie (5-6) allowed only a broken-bat single to Josh Donaldson in the fourth.
Eli Morgan worked a 1-2-3 eighth before giving way to Clase, the AL’s top reliever in June. The Yankees loaded the bases with two outs on two walks — one to a pinch-hitting Aaron Judge — before Clase got Aaron Hicks to ground to second for the final out and his 19th save.
The Yankees lost for just the sixth time in 32 games since May 31.
McKenzie walked one and struck out seven. WHITE SOX 13, GIANTS 4 » Lucas Giolito (5-4) gave up three hits in six innings as Chicago finished a three-game sweep at San Francisco.
Selby Zavala had three hits and three RBIs, and Gavin Sheets drove in three runs as the White Sox improved to 7-1 at Oracle Park.
The Giants have lost 11 of their last 13.
PHILLIES 4, CARDINALS 0 » Zack Wheeler threw seven innings of four-hit ball and Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto
homered as host Philadelphia beat St. Louis.
Since Rob Thomson took over as interim manager following the firing of Joe Girardi on June 3, the Phillies have gone 20-9 and moved within 1½ games of the Cardinals for the NL’s third wild card.
Wheeler didn’t allow more than one Cardinals baserunner to reach in an inning, scattering four singles while striking out five and walking one in improving to 7-4 with a 2.66 ERA.
Adam Wainwright (6-6) allowed four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 3 » Shane Baz pitched six innings for his first win of the season, Harold Ramírez and Randy Arozarena hit tworun home runs in a six-run fifth inning and Tampa Bay won at Toronto.
Ji-Man Choi added a solo home run in the seven-hit fifth. All of the damage came against Blue Jays righthanders Ross Stripling (4-3) and Trent Thornton.
Baz (1-1) allowed one run and seven hits to win for the first time in his five starts in 2022. He walked two and struck out seven.
REDS 4, BRAVES 3 » Albert Almora Jr. slapped a basesloaded single past a drawnin infield in the bottom of the ninth to give Cincinnati a win over Atlanta.
Not only did the Reds avoid a series sweep, but they also snapped a 10game losing streak at Great American Ball Park — the longest home losing streak for the team since losing 11 straight at Riverfront Stadium in April-May 1986.
In the ninth, Braves reliever A.J. Minter (4-2) allowed a single to Tommy Pham before walking Joey Votto and hitting Jonathan India to load the bases with no outs. Almora delivered his base hit past a diving third baseman Austin Riley.
The Reds had been held to just one hit through