USD Toreros
USD Toreros Baseball
 
No. 20 USD to Battle No. 5 Rice in Four-Game Road Series
USD travels to Houston to take on Rice for a four-game series.

Sean Nicol.
 
Sean Nicol.
  

March 11, 2009

Complete Baseball Release in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

ON DECK: The University of San Diego baseball team (8-7) will continue their five-game road swing this Thursday through Sunday as they head to Houston, Texas to take on No. 5 Rice University in a four-game series. Thursday's and Friday's games will both begin at 4:30 p.m. (PST). Saturday's game will begin at 12:00 PM (PST) and Sunday's game is scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM (PST).

SCOUTING THE OWLS: Rice University enters the series with a 8-4 overall record after picking up a 2-1 win over Washington State, a 9-0 win over Notre Dame and dropping a 5-3 decision to Oral Roberts this past week. Rice leads the all-time series between the two at 1-0, with the only meeting coming during the 2006 season, a 11-2 Rice victory. Offensively, the Owls are led by Anthony Rendon, who has a team-leading .413 batting average, a team-best 19 hits, four doubles, three home runs and a team-best 16 RBI. On the mound, Rice is anchored down by Mike Ojala, who is 0-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three starts. Rice is under the direction of 19th-year head coach Wayne Graham. During his tenure in Houston, Graham has posted an overall record of 795-303.

THE POLLS: The University of San Diego baseball team dropped nine spots to No. 20 in the latest Baseball America top-25 poll and fell five sports to No. 23 in the latest Rivals.com top-25 poll. Rice Is ranked as high as No. 5 in the latest Rivals.com top-25 poll, are also ranked No. 9 in the baseball America top-25 poll and are ranked No. 10 in the latest Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll.

THOMSON K'S A CAREER-HIGH NINE: Junior right-hander Matt Thomson recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in the 10-7 win over San Diego State University this past Sunday. Thomson's previous career-high was seven in a win against No. 16 Oklahoma earlier this season. Thomson is now 2-0, has one save with a 5.59 ERA on the season.

WHO'S HOT FOR THE TOREROS: Senior shortstop Sean Nicol has been red hot for the Toreros. Over the last six games he has hit .583 with 14 hits, four doubles, one triple and five RBI. Nicol currently leads the team in hitting with a .389 batting average, has a team-leading 21 hits, five doubles, one triple and eight RBI.

LAST TIME OUT: The 20th-ranked University of San Diego baseball team dropped a 17-3 decision to Long Beach State University Tuesday evening in a non-conference game at Blair Field. The Toreros (8-7) wasted no time in scoring as in the first inning they scored one run on two hits. Kevin Muno got things started with a double to left field. After Muno stole third, Steven Chatwood drove him in with a RBI single to left field to give USD a 1-0 lead. Long Beach State (4-7) then responded with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. The LBSU runs came on a Krick sacrifice fly to center field, a Jones RBI single, and a Dennis two-run double to give the 49ers a 4-1 lead. The 49ers then exploded for six runs in the third innings, three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings and one run in the seventh inning to take a commanding 17-1 lead. The Toreros took back a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning. Victor Sanchez got things started with a stand-up double to center field and moved to third on a Michael Lugo ground out to the pitcher. After Zach Walters drew a walk, Zack Kometani drove in Sanchez with a RBI single up the middle and Jon Hotta pushed across the final run on a RBI single to center field to put the game at its final of 17-3. Offensively for the Toreros, Sanchez led the way as he went 2-for-4 with two doubles and Walters went 2-for-3. USD starter Scott Denault (2-1) was saddled on the mound with the loss as he allowed four runs, one earned, on four hits in 1.2 innings of work.

ENGELL STILL SWINGING IT WELL: Junior second baseman Chris Engell continues to swing the bat well for the Toreros. Over the past six games, Engell is hitting .364 with eight hits, two doubles and two RBI. On the season, Engell is hitting .378 with 17 hits, three doubles and seven RBI.

BLAIR RINGS UP NINE...AGAIN: Sophomore right-hander Kyle Blair recorded a season-high nine strikeouts for the second time this season in 6.1 innings of work in a no decision against San Diego State this past Friday. On the season, Blair is 1-0 with a 3.66 ERA and leads the team in strikeouts with 26.

RBI RANKS GRIFFIN NO. 26 DRAFT PROSPECT: Real Baseball Intelligence (RBI) is an industry leader in providing comprehensive coverage of the amateur baseball draft. RBI scouts hundreds of players each year and its unique TRUE Rank system is 60% more accurate than the average pro team. They recently published their top-200 draft prospects for this years draft and USD closer AJ Griffin checked in as the No. 26 prospect. Griffin is USD's all-time saves leader with 27. On the season, Griffin has a pair of saves and has a 3.52 ERA.

CAN YOU HEAR ME?: All four games this week will have a live audio broadcast on the Rice website at www.riceowls.com. Broadcaster J.P. Heath has the call for the games this weekend.

2009 GAMETRACKER AVAILABLE: All of San Diego's home games, and select road games can be followed live via Gametracker on the Toreros athletic web site at www.usdtoreros.com. Gametracker is a service of CBS College Sports, the official web provider for San Diego athletics, and is a real time update of the action.

SANCHEZ NAMED A PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Sophomore third baseman Victor Sanchez of the University of San Diego baseball team has been named third-team preseason All-American by Baseball America. Sanchez, a 6-2 sophomore from Norwalk, Calif., is coming off a freshman campaign in which he set the new USD freshman home run record with 12, while hitting .268 with 59 hits, 12 doubles and one triple. Sanchez played a huge role in helping USD set a program record 44 wins, wining its second consecutive West Coast Conference championship and reaching the Long Beach Regional championship game.

THREE TOREROS HIGHLIGHT BROOKS WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST: Junior All-American closer AJ Griffin along with sophomore right-hander Kyle Blair and sophomore lefty Sammy Solis highlight the list of players named to the pre-season release of the 2009 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List. The Wallace Award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. The 2009 award banquet will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 2, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech University. Griffin, a 2008 first-team All-WCC selection, Louisville Slugger All-American and Team USA member, posted an overall record of 1-1 with a 1.96 ERA and tied the school record for single-season saves with 14. With the 14 saves, Griffin became the all-time leader in career saves at USD with 25. Blair, a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, posted an 8-4 record, 3.86 ERA and fanned a USD freshman record 99 batters. Blair helped lead the Toreros into the championship game of the Long Beach Regional. Blair set a new program record for single-game strikeouts with 15 against Hawaii - Hilo. Solis, a 6-5 freshman from Litchfield Park, Ariz. and a WCC All-Freshman team member, posted a 3-1 overall record with a 3.83 ERA. In West Coast Conference action, Solis was 1-0 with a 4.42 ERA in six appearances.

TOREROS TABBED AS WCC CO-FAVORIATES: San Diego and Pepperdine were picked as favorites to win this year's WCC regular season title in the 2009 preseason baseball poll, as voted on by the head coaches in the conference. The Toreros and Waves have already been receiving several preseason accolades by several publications as San Diego has been ranked as high as No. 11 by Baseball America, while Pepperdine was ranked No. 17 in the same poll. San Diego and Pepperdine both received 45 points, with the Toreros receiving four first place votes to three for the Waves. Santa Clara, which has received votes in several preseason publications, was picked to finish third with 35 points. Gonzaga received the last remaining first place vote, and received 30 points, to come in at fourth place, edging out San Francisco, which received 26 points, for fifth place. Rounding out this year's poll are Loyola Marymount, with 20 points, Saint Mary's, with 14 points, and Portland, with nine points.

TORERO SKIPPER Rich Hill: San Diego's Rich Hill has built the USD Toreros into one of the most successful Division I baseball programs on the West Coast. The 2009 spring season will be Hill's 22nd year as a head coach at the collegiate level, and 11th at USD, having enjoyed 19 winning seasons in 21 years. Since taking over at USD in 1999, Hill has been remarkable in leading the Toreros to 11 consecutive winning campaigns, rewriting the school record book en route to claiming back-to-back West Coast Conference Championship titles in 2002 and 2003 and again in 2007 and 2008. Under his leadership San Diego has averaged 34 wins per season, including winning a school record 44 games in 2008, a year in which Hill was honored by his peers as the WCC of the Year. In 2007, Hill led USD to its highest national ranking in program history at No. 4, as well as USD's first-ever national seed in the NCAA Regionals. In 2008, Hill guided the Torero into the championship game of the Long Beach Regional, marking the first time USD had reached that game in a NCAA Division I Regional.

GRIFFIN HIGHLIGHTS GOLDEN SPIKES WATCH LIST: USA Baseball announced its preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List Tuesday, marking the organization's first step toward identifying the top player in college baseball. Highlighting this list is the University of San Diego's ace closer AJ Griffin. Griffin, a 2008 first-team All-West Coast Conference selection, a 2008 Louisville Slugger All-American, Team USA member, and a first-team preseason All-American by the NCBA, posted an overall record of 1-1 with a 1.96 ERA and set the school record for single-season saves with 14 a year ago while helping lead the Toreros to their second consecutive West Coast Conference championship and its third straight trip to the NCAA Regionals. With the 14 saves, Griffin became the all-time leader in career saves at USD with 25.