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Sawyer Strosnider provided TCU’s lone offensive highlight with a solo home run in the fourth inning, but that was practically the only mistake USC starting pitcher Caden Aoki made.

Aoki struck out six, yielding one run on four hits while delivering 80 of his 114 pitches for strikes.

The two Los Padres leaders are Edgar, a stern drill sergeant-type who rides everyone with equal venom, and Aoki, just as demanding but with more of a shaman-warrior demeanor.

Aoki conducts Thomas’ job interview as the two men hike a steep hill; Thomas eventually has to decide between asking questions, which takes up oxygen, or concentrating on the task at hand.

To pitcher Caden Aoki, “it was genuinely like Christmas morning.”