Feb. 23, 2012
Complete Baseball Release is PDF Format 
ON DECK: The University of San Diego baseball team (1-2) will open their 2012 home schedule this weekend with the USD Tournament. On Friday, the Toreros will play a double-header with an 10 a.m. game against Kansas State, followed by a 2 p.m. game against the University of the Pacific. The Toreros will then host Oregon State on Saturday at 1 p.m. and on Sunday, they will wrap-up the busy weekend with an 11 a.m. game against Pacific.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Kansas State enters the weekend with an overall record of 1-2 after dropping 2-of-3 to Cal State Bakersfield this past weekend. The Toreros lead the all-time series at 2-0, with the last meeting coming on Feb. 28, 2009, a 2-1 USD win in San Diego. The Toreros will square off against right-hander Matt Applegate on Friday, and Applegate enters the game with an 0-0 record, an ERA of 4.29 ERA in 7.1 innings of work on the young season. The KSU offense is paced Jared King, who is hitting .333 with four hits and one RBI.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: The Tigers enter the weekend with an overall record of 0-4 after being swept in the season-opening series against California, then falling to No. 2 Stanford, 9-7, in extra innings this past Tuesday. USD and Pacific are tied at two wins apiece in the all-time series with the Tigers winning the last match-up, 14-6, on Feb. 27, 2009. The Tigers offense is paced by Dustin Torchio, who is hitting .278 with five hits, one double and one RBI.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS: Oregon State enters the Tournament with an overall record of 3-1 after winning 3-of-4 games against UC Santa Barbara in the opening weekend of the season. The Beavers are currently ranked as high as No. 21 in both the Baseball America Top-25 and Collegiate Baseball top-30 polls. USD leads the all-time series between the two at 6-4, including winning the last meeting, 10-5, on March 8, 2008 in San Diego. The OSU offense is led by junior Ryan Barnes, who is hitting .375 with six hits and two RBI. On the mound,the Beavers are anchored down by right-hander Dan Child, who is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Toreros will hit the road on Tuesday and head up the Inland Empire to take on UC Riverside on Tuesday in a 6 p.m. non-conference game at the Riverside Sports Complex. The Toreros will then remain in San Diego, but play at the SDSU Tournament next weekend, as they play Cal State Northridge on Thursday at 3 p.m., followed by a Friday 11 a.m. game against Cal Poly. USD will then play Northridge again on Saturday at 3 p.m. before concluding the weekend with a Sunday 11 a.m. game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. All of these games will be played at SDSU's Tony Gwynn Stadium.
THE POLLS: Oregon State enters the week ranked No. 21 in both the Baseball America top-25 poll and in the Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll. USD, Pacific and Kansas State are not ranked in any of the top-25 polls as of yet.
SEWALD DOMINATES IN FIRST OUTING: Senior right-hander Paul Sewald had a dominating performance in his first outing of the season in a no-decision this past Saturday. Sewlad took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before surrendering his first hit. Sewald only allowed four base runners over the first six innings, and none of these base-runners were able to advance past first base. In all, Sewald recorded eight strikeouts, and gave up only two hits in 7.0 complete innings of work, and left the game with a 2-0 lead in a no decision.
DRUMMOND K'S 10: Junior right-hander Calvin Drummond turned in a dominating pitching performance this past Friday in picking up the season-opening win over Sam Houston State. The Huntington Beach, Calif. native carved up the Bearkats bats, as she punched out a career-high 10 batters, while allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits in 5.2 innings of work. Drummond is bolstering a 1.59 ERA after one outing.
HAAR SWINGING IT WELL EARLY: Senior infielder Bryan Haar had a productive week for the Toreros offensively, as he went 6-for-13 (.538), recorded one double, and had two RBI, while going a perfect 1-for-1 in stole bases. Haar opened his senior season with a 3-for-5 performance, recording one double, one run scored and one RBI in Friday's win over Sam Houston State. He then followed that up with a 1-for-4 performance on Saturday, and finished the weekend strong with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with an RBI and one run scored.
BRYANT LOOKING GOOD EARLY: Preseason All-American Kris Bryant also had a productive offensive output in the first weekend of action. Bryant hit .556 (5-for-9) with one double and two walks. Bryant began the season with a 3-for-4, one double performance, then had an 0-for-3 day on Saturday, and finished strong with a 2-for-3 one run scored outing on Sunday.
TOREROS RETURN SIX ALL WCC PERFORMERS: The Toreros will feature six returning All-WCC performers from last season, highlighted by preseason All-American Kris Bryant. Bryant, who was tabbed the West Coast Conference Co-Player and Co-Freshman of the Year in 2011, started all 21 games during conference play for the Toreros, while leading the WCC with a .410 batting average, .525 on-base percentage, 26 runs scored, and 11 doubles. For the season, Bryant led the WCC with a .365 batting average, and his nine overall home runs were tied for most in the conference. Overall, Bryant was second on the team in stolen bases with 18, he slugged at a .599 clip and he bolstered an on base percentage of .482 Also making their return for USD will Bryan Haar, Corey LeVier, Dillon Checkal, Calvin Drummond and Michael Wagner.
BRYANT RECEIVING PRESEASON ACCOLADES: The preseason awards continue to roll in for sophomore third baseman Kris Bryant, as Perfect Game and Louisville Slugger have tabbed the power hitting third basemen a third-team All-American. Bryant, who was tabbed the West Coast Conference Co-Player and Co-Freshman of the Year in 2011, started all 21 games during conference play for the Toreros, while leading the WCC with a .410 batting average, .525 on-base percentage, 26 runs scored, and 11 doubles. For the season, Bryant led the WCC with a .365 batting average, and his nine overall home runs were tied for most in the conference. Bryant posted a career-high and team-best 15-game hitting streak this past season from April 8-May 1, and the power hitting third baseman finished the season on a 11-game hitting streak. Bryant had several memorable games this season including a 2-for-5, one home run and five RBI performance at Gonzaga on April 10, with the freshman slugger hitting his first collegiate grand slam in the top of the ninth inning. Bryant also had 22 multi hit games, and two multi home-run games. Overall, Bryant was second on the team in stolen bases with 18, he slugged at a .599 clip and he bolstered an on base percentage of .482.
FOUR TOREROS NAMED TO THE ALL-WCC PRESEASON TEAM: San Diego not only was picked as the favorite to win the WCC, but they also placed four players on the preseason ALL-WCC team. Reigning WCC Co-Player of the Year, Kris Bryant, is on the first team along with Corey LeVier and Bryan Haar. Starting Pitcher Dylan Covey, was also selected to the preseason All-Conference team.
2012 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.
CAN YOU SEE ME?: 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. The voice of the Toreros, Jack Murray, will be providing live play-by-play of all home games as well as select road games this season.
TOREROS TABBED FAVORITES IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: The University of San Diego has been selected to win the 2012 West Coast Conference baseball championship in a preseason poll of theWCC's nine head coaches. The Toreros earned five first-place votes and 59 overall points in the poll. Last year's second place finisher, Gonzaga University, earned 57 points and picked up three first place votes in the annual survey. The University of San Francisco, 2011 West Coast Conference champions, garnered a first place vote and tallied 51 points to finish third in the poll. Loyola Marymount University captured 37 points to finish fourth. Pepperdine University and Saint Mary's College - each with 30 points - tied for fifth, while West Coast Conference newcomer BYU was tabbed seventh with 28 points. The University of Portland (23 points) and Santa Clara University (nine points) rounded out the poll.
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 2012 spring season will be Hill's 25th year as a head coach at the collegiate level, and 14th at USD, having enjoyed 21 winning seasons in 24 years. Since taking over at USD in 1999, Hill has been remarkable in leading the Toreros to 13 winning campaigns, rewriting the school record book en route to claiming five West Coast Conference Championship titles in 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2010. 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 Coach 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 Toreros into the championship game of the Long Beach Regional, marking the first time USD had reached that game in a NCAA Division I Regional.
