The USC baseball program waited a decade -- with several coaching changes and resets along the way -- to get back to the NCAA postseason, but the Trojans are making it clear they aren't just happy to be back.

They have bigger goals in mind.

With a 6-4 win over Saint Mary's on Saturday, USC advanced to the finals of the Corvallis (Oregon) Regional and will play Sunday against either the Gaels again or host Oregon State, needing just one more win to advance to the NCAA super regionals for the first time since 2005.

USC (37-21), which came into the weekend as the No. 3 seed in the four-team field, is the only one left unbeaten from the weekend, so if the Trojans lose Sunday there would be a winner-take-all rematch Monday.

"It's big. It's a stepping stone. We talked about building this program well and rekindling the fire that's been here in the past history of this program, so I know that the guys, they just answered the call, answered the bell every time we've asked them to in big moments. So just proud of them," coach Andy Stankiewicz said. "We know we've still got work to do tomorrow, so big day tomorrow, but certainly it's a big stepping stone for our program."

Ethan Hedges went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs and 2 RBI to lead the way, while Augie Lopez also homered and drove in 2 runs and Abbrie Covarrubias was 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored.

Mason Edwards gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 0 walks with 6 strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings to get the win, and Caden Hunter notched the save with 2 strikeouts over 1 1/3 clean innings.

"You've heard coach say it a thousand times that it's time to get this program back to where it has been, and I think that this year we've really got all the pieces to do that and we've shown that we've got the talent to do that," Hedges said. "I think that throughout this year we've had a lot of ups and downs, but we know with each other we're right where we want to be and we have the guys to do it."

Hedges, USC's lone All-Big Ten first-team selection, now has a team-leading 14 home runs this season, and he got the Trojans started quickly Saturday with a solo shot in the bottom of the first inning.

But Saint Mary's (36-25) answered with a two-run homer from Diego Castellanos in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead and pushed it to 3-1 in the top of the fourth on a solo shot by Aiden Taurek.

The Trojans responded quickly as Augie Lopez hammered a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it and Hedges followed with another solo shot in the fifth to give USC a 4-3 lead.

It was fitting that Hedges would play the starring role in the Trojans' biggest win of the season.

"His first home run was a slider, I believe. He uses the middle of the field so well, and that's his strength. We've been talking about if a slider stays middle in, go ahead and get some good ball flight to the pull side. When he did that, I was like, 'Oh, OK,'" Stankiewicz said. "And then took the fastball the opposite way and that's kind of what he does. ... We always talk about slow heartbeat -- he's got one, he doesn't get rattled. He's been a big part of our success."

The Trojans never trailed again. Richard Tejada tacked on an RBI single in the sixth, Saint Mary's scored a run in the eighth and Maximo Martinez delivered an RBI single in the bottom of that inning to make it 6-4.

Hunter came on in relief with runners and first and third and two outs in the top of the eighth and struck out Ryan Pierce to protect the lead at that time before delivering a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close it out.

"When he came to the mound, I said this is why you came here, and he had a big smile on his face and said 'Absolutely. Let's go,'" Stankiewicz said. "Just proud of him. It's been a little bit of a rollercoaster for him, but he stayed mentally strong and stayed ready. He came in and just did what we needed to be done in that moment."

Whatever happens Sunday (or Monday), this has been a breakthrough season for the Trojans in Stankiewicz's third year at the helm.

But the way these Trojans have played this weekend, it doesn't seem they're satisfied just yet.

"We talked about before we got here, it's going to take big plays in big moments and we've gotten some these first two games," Stankiewicz said. "... Proud of the effort that we had tonight by everybody. ... Just a gutsy performance by everybody to get a win against a really good ballclub."