May 4, 2009
Complete Baseball Release in PDF Format 
ON DECK: The University of San Diego baseball team (27-21, 10-8 WCC) will hit the road on Tuesday and Wednesday to take on No. 4 Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. The Toreros will then return home on Friday to begin a three-game West Coast Conference series with the University of San Francisco at 3 p.m. Both Saturday's and Sunday's games against the Dons will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, the Toreros will be honoring its senior class of Matt Couch, Sean Nicol, Scott Denault, Michael Lugo and Jose Valerio.
LAST TIME OUT: The Toreros went 0-4 for the first time all season this past week, dropping a 2-1 midweek game to UC Riverside, before losing three straight to Loyola Marymount over the weekend. In Tuesday's loss, five different players recorded one hit each to make up the five USD hits. In Friday's 6-5 loss, the USD rally fell one run short as Austin Green led the offense, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. In Saturday's 7-3 loss, James Meador led the way as he went 3-for-4 with one RBI. Chris Engell was the only other Torero to record multiple hits, as he went 2-for-5 with one double and one RBI. In Sunday's heartbreaking 5-4 loss, the Lions rallied to score a pair of runs in the ninth inning to claim the come-from-behind win. In this game, Green led the USD offense as he went 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS: Arizona State enters the week with an overall record of 33-11 after dropping two-of-three to Oregon State this past weekend in Pacific 10 play. The Sun Devils hold the all-time series lead between the two at 17-2 with the last meeting coming in the 2002 Tempe Regional, where ASU defeated USD twice to eliminate the Toreros from their first Division I NCAA Regional in program history. The Sun Devils are led offensively by junior Jason Kipnis, who has a team-leading .391 batting average, with 61 hits, 16 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 57 RBI. On the mound Arizona State looks to junior right-hander Mike Leake to anchor things down. Leake is 11-1 with a 1.59 ERA. ASU is under the direction of 15th-year head coach Pa Murhy. During his tenure in Tempe, Murphy has posted an overall record of 611-281-1.
SCOUTING THE DONS: San Francisco enters the week with an overall record of 23-27 overall and are 8-7 in the WCC after dropping two-of-three to No. 13 Cal Poly this past week in non-conference action. The Toreros lead the all-time series between the two at 63-47, but the Dons took two-of-three against the Toreros last season in San Francisco. The USF offense is led by senior outfielder Zach Kim, who has a .347 batting average with a team-best 68 hits, has 14 doubles, two triples, two home runs and 24 RBI. On the mound, the Dons are anchored down by junior right-hander Doug Murray, who is 7-0 with a 3.87 ERA. San Francisco is under the direction of Nino Girranto. During his time on the hilltop, Girranto has posted an overall record of 303-316.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: All USD home games, as well as select road games, will be streamed live via video on the athletics department website. Fans can watch all the action live from the comfort of their home by logging onto usdtoreros.com. Simply go to the baseball schedule page and click on the WATCH link to view that days game.
WHERE WE STAND: Heading into the final WCC series of the season, USD currently sits in second place with a 10-8 record, two games back of both Gonzaga University and Loyola Marymount University, who are tied for first place at 12-6. Both LMU and Gonzaga have claimed the series over the Toreros to hold any sort of tie breaker scenarios. So in order for the Toreros to get into the WCC Championship series, this is what needs to happen. First, USD must sweep San Francisco this weekend, then in two weeks when GU and LMU meet in Spokane, either Gonzaga or LMU needs to sweep, otherwise the Toreros are eliminated from the WCC Championship series.
GOING, GOING, GONE!: Austin Green has found his stride, as he has now hit four home runs in his last four WCC games. Green began this incredible stat in the series finale against the University of Portland on April 26, when he went 2-for-2 with two home runs and three RBI. Then in Friday's loss to Loyola Marymount, Green went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. This past week, Green was USD's offensive leader, as he went 5-for-11 (.455) with two home runs and three RBI. On the season, Green has moved his batting average up to .273 with 24 hits, one double, one triple, four home runs and 12 RBI.
HOME SWEET HOME: The University of San Diego Toreros are bolstering a 18-8 record while playing in the friendly confines of Cunningham Stadium this season, as a team they are hitting .334 at home, while the Toreros pitching staff is holding opponents to a .270 batting average. Four players are hitting over .400 while playing at home, paced by James Meador's .414 average. The USD offense has scored opponent pitchers to the tune of a 6.54 ERA.
MEADOR HAS SOLID MONTH: Junior outfielder James Meador has been on fire for the Toreros since the start of West Coast Conference play, and through the month of April. Meador has hit .424 (28-for-66) with eight doubles, two home runs, 18 RBI, while slugging at a .636 clip. Meador has also posted a .446 on base percentage. Meador had a stellar close-out to the month as he went 7-for-14 with a double, two home runs and nine RBI in the final weekend series against the University of Portland. Meador continues to top the Torero batting charts, as he is hitting .385 with a team-best 72 hits, is tied for the team-lead with 16 doubles, has two triples and six home runs.
ENGELL GOING STREAKING: Junior second baseman Chris Engell is currently riding a career-high 12-game hitting streak. The hit streak began back on Apr. 14, when the Toreros defeated top-ranked UC Irvine, 7-4. In that game, Engell went 3-for-4 with a double. Since then he has continued his hot hitting and over the past 12 games, he is hitting .400 (22-for-55) with five doubles, one triple, one home run and 10 RBI.
TOREROS AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: This season the Toreros have posted a 6-5 record against teams ranked in the top-25. The Toreros split a pair of games against, then No. 16, Oklahoma, went 1-2 against, then. No. 5 Rice, swept, then No. 12, Pepperdine, dropped a 8-7 decision to No. 22 UC Riverside, picked up a 7-4 win over then, No. 3 UC Irvine and dropped a 8-5 decision to No. 9 Cal State Fullerton on Apr. 21. USD will look to improve on that record this week when they travel to play No. 4 Arizona State on both Tuesday and Wednesday in Tempe, Ariz.
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.
GRIFFIN HIGHLIGHTS STOPPER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST: Junior All-American AJ Griffin of the University of San Diego baseball team has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List. Forty-five relief pitchers are included on the midseason watch list for the fifth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, the association announced Thursday. The award is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I college baseball. The junior right-hander out of El Cajon, Calif. already owns the USD career saves record at 28 and single-season record of 14 set last season.
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.
|
|
 |
