He could have remained the big man on campus, mowing down Marmonte League hitters and inflating his batting average.

But Robert Stock (Agoura) wanted a bigger challenge.

The sought after prospect decided to skip his senior year in high school and enroll in college at USC a year early at the tender age of 16.

Midway through his freshman season, Stock has no regrets about his decision.

"I didn't want it to be easy and it hasn't been," he said. "I have constantly been making changes and improvements, and I am getting much more competition in baseball and taking college-level courses that are helping me."

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Stock didn't waste any time adjusting to the college life.

He has started 23 games at catcher, and is batting .273 with 24 hits, three home runs and 12 RBIs. In eight relief appearances, Stock is 2-0 with eight strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA.

Stock decided to leave Agoura after leading the Chargers to the CIF-Southern Section Division I final last year.

"I figured I could benefit more as a player in college baseball than finishing out my last year of high school," said Stock, who celebrated his 17th birthday in November. "I felt like I had taken all that high school baseball had to offer me and I wanted to move on."

Facing the bigger, stronger players in the Pacific-10 Conference has forced Stock to diversify his arsenal.

"You can't blow the fastball by them," he said. "I have to mix fastball and curves inside and outside. It's been a constant adjustment because in high school it was more about just throwing the fastball."

The benefits of playing catcher and pitcher have helped ease some of the transition.

"They complement each other," Stock said. "If I am at catcher, I know what the pitcher is thinking because I have been there before and I am familiar with what he has going through and vice versa."

Stock lives on the USC campus with seven other freshman baseball players. He earned a 3.0 GPA last semester in the business program.

The one thing Stock misses about high school is not being able to see his friends more. There is still a chance he could attend his senior prom because his girlfriend remains a student at Agoura.

But Stock doesn't plan to rent a tuxedo or buy a corsage just yet.

"It's during the baseball playoffs, so I am hoping I can't go," he said. "I want to be in the playoffs."

News and notes: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo senior center fielder Lisa Modglin (Simi Valley) broke her own single-season program record for RBIs and runs scored. Modglin entered the week with 39 RBIs and 43 runs scored. Her batting average of .517 is on pace to break the program's single-season record of .407 set by Sara Stockton in 1999. Stanford junior Michelle Smith (Agoura) entered the week with a team-leading 33 RBIs and six home runs. UC Irvine senior Cody Cipriano (Westlake) finished 4 for 12 with a home run, triple and four RBIs in Irvine's series victory over Cal State Fullerton. Sophomore Ben Orloff (Simi Valley) was 3 for 9 with three runs scored. Arizona freshman pitcher Jason Stoffel (Agoura) has tallied one win and two saves in his last six appearances. ... El Camino College pitcher Garrett Ozar (Oak Park) is 9-0 with a 3.36 ERA. USC redshirt senior Noah Bryant (Carpinteria) was named Pac-10 Conference co-athlete of the Week after winning the shot put title at the Pepsi Team Invitational. Bryant threw an outdoor best of 66 feet, 2 inches, the top mark in the NCAA this season and the second farthest in USC history. Cal State Fullerton junior forward Alison Bennett (Nordhoff) was a Big West Conference all-academic selection for the winter season. ... Linebacker Steven Lippert (St. Bonaventure, Moorpark College) signed to play at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. He will participate in the spring game on April 21.