USD Baseball Notes (PDF)

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Due to the chance of rain Sunday, changes have been made to this weekend's Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic. The Toreros will host Notre Dame Friday at 6:00 p.m. as previously scheduled, but will now play two games Saturday. First USD will play UC Irvine at 10:00 a.m. Saturday and then will play Oregon that evening at 6:00 p.m.

There will now be no games Sunday and the tournament will no longer be bracketed. All of USD's game will be streamed live on TheW.tv

For tickets visit TonyGwynnClassic.com.

USD Baseball Schedule

Friday, Feb. 24 vs. Notre Dame 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 vs. UC Irvine 10:00 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 vs. Oregon 6:00 p.m.

Complete Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic Schedule (Visitors listed first)

Fowler Park

Friday, Feb. 24 Oregon vs. UC Irvine 1:00 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 24 Notre Dame vs. USD 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 USD vs. UC Irvine 10:00 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 UC Irvine vs. Tennessee 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 Oregon vs. USD 6:00 p.m.

Tony Gwynn Stadium

Thursday, Feb. 23 UC Irvine vs. Notre Dame 6:00 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 24 Seton Hall vs. Tennessee 1:00 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 24 Tennessee vs. San Diego State 6:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 Seton Hall vs. Oregon 10:00 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 San Diego State vs. Seton Hall 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25 Notre Dame vs. San Diego State 6:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Toreros won their season opener against No. 6/7 Vanderbilt 3-2 before dropping the final two games of the series. In game one, the Toreros scored three runs off preseason All-American Kyle Wright and then the bullpen held on for a 3-2 win. Preseason All-WCC pick Nick Sprengel struck out nine Commodores and held them to two runs over five innings. The Torero bats went cold over the last two games, scoring just three runs combined.

ON DECK: Due to the chance of rain Sunday, changes have been made to this weekend's Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic. The Toreros will host Notre Dame Friday at 6:00 p.m. as previously scheduled, but will now play two games Saturday. First USD will play UC Irvine at 10:00 a.m. Saturday and then will play Oregon that evening at 6:00 p.m. On Monday, USD hosts Oregon at 6:00 p.m. for a non-conference game.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH: Notre Dame went 1-3 last weekend at the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio, Tex. They lost two games to Saint Louis (8-6 & 8-3) and one to Lafayette (10-2). They earned their win over Incarnate Word (12-10). In 2016 they went 27-27 and 11-17 in conference. Junior RHP Peter Solomon was named a preseason third team All-American by Baseball America. Head Coach Mik Aoki (7th season) is 174-161-1 at Notre Dame. The Toreros and Fighting Irish have met twice before, with Notre Dame winning both times. The last time they met was in the 2003 regionals, where the Fighting Irish ended USD' s season.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS: Oregon split a four game series at Fresno State last weekend; dropping the first two and then winning the last two. They were picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12. In 2016 they went 29-26 and 14-16 in the Pac-12. RP Brac Warren was named to the Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List. Head Coach George Horton (9th Year) is 290-195-1 at Oregon and has taken the Ducks to the postseason five times. USD is 0-6 all-time against Oregon.

SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS: UC Irvine is 2-1 so far this season. They split a shortened two-game series with Minnesota last week and they knocked off San Diego State 7-5 Tuesday evening. In 2016 they went 31-25 and 11-13 in the Big West. Keston Hiura was named to the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list. Head Coach Mike Gillespie (10th Year) has won at least 30 games in each of his nine years at UCI and was the 2014 National Coach of the Year. USD is 45-56-1 all-time against the Anteaters.

BASEBALL STREAM THIS WEEK: All of USD's games in the Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic, and Monday's game against Oregon, will be streamed live on TheW.tv. A link to stream the games can be found on the USD Baseball schedule page on USDToreros.com. Jack Murray will handle the play-by-play duties.

WEEKLY HONOR: Nick Sprengel was named the Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced Monday morning. The sophomore lefty helped lift the Toreros to a 3-2 win over No. 6/7 Vanderbilt in the season opener Thursday evening. The preseason All-WCC selection pitched five innings, struck out nine batters and allowed just two earned runs to earn the victory for USD.

ADAMS HAULS IN PRESEASON ACCOLOADES: Junior catcher Riley Adams was named a preseason first-team All-America by Baseball America and was also named to the preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List, one of 55 players. Adams, a 6-4 catcher from Encinitas, Calif., finished last season as a semi-finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, and was named second-team All-WCC after he hit .327 with 67 hits, 18 doubles, one triple, six hits, and 37 RBI. Adams recorded 17 multi-hit games and had 10 multi-RBI games in 2016. In WCC play, Adams hit .283 with 30 hits, seven doubles, three home runs and had 16 RBI. This past summer, Adams played for the Orleans Firebirds of the prestigious Cape Cod League and was named a Cape Cod All-Star and was ranked the No. 29 prospect in the Cape Cod league by D1Baseball.com. Adams hit .333 with 36 hits, six doubles, one home run and had nine RBI in 29 games with 108 at bats for the Orleans Firebirds.

TWO TOREROS NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-WCC TEAM: C Riley Adams and LHP Nick Sprengel represented the Toreros on the All-WCC team preseason team. Adams was named second-team All-WCC in 2016 after he hit .327 overall with 67 hits, 18 doubles, one triple, six hits, and 37 RBI. Sprengel, a 6-1 lefty out of Placentia, Calif. was 5-7 as a sophomore with a 5.92 ERA.

TOREROS PICKED TO WIN THE WCC: For the ninth time in the past ten years, the University of San Diego was picked to win the 2017 West Coast Conference Championship in the 2017 preseason poll of the WCC's 10 head coaches. The Toreros earned five of nine possible first-place votes and 77 overall points in the poll. Gonzaga University, which shared a portion of the 2016 regular season title en route to the first at-large NCAA Regional berth in program history was tabbed second with 73 points, including three first-place votes. Winners of two of the last three WCC Tournament Championships, Pepperdine University, earned 63 points and picked up two first place votes to sit in third place. Brigham Young University shared the 2016 regular season title and tallied 59 points in preseason balloting, good for fourth place overall. Saint Mary's College made history last season, winning a share of the first regular season WCC title in program history and won the WCC Tournament for the first time en route to the program's inaugural NCAA Regional appearance. The Gaels were tabbed fifth with 49 points, followed by Bay Area rival University of San Francisco in sixth place with 40 points. Loyola Marymount University (37), University of the Pacific (21), Santa Clara University (20) and University of Portland (13) rounded out the poll.

FROM FOWLER PARK TO MVP: Former USD Baseball standout Kris Bryant's rise to stardom continued in the 2016 MLB season. Not only did the slugging 3B help lead the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908, he was named the National League MVP after hitting .292 with 39 home runs, 102 RBI and a league-best 121 runs scored. Bryant received all but one first place MVP vote and became the first player to win the Golden Spikes Award (2013), Minor League Player of the Year Award (2014), NL Rookie of the Year Award (2015) and NL MVP Award (2016) in consecutive years.

TORERO SKIPPER Rich Hill: Rich Hill has built the USD Toreros into one of the most successful Division I baseball programs on the West Coast. The 2017 spring season will be Hill's 30th year as a head coach at the collegiate level, and 19th at USD, having enjoyed 25 winning seasons in 29 years. Since taking over at USD in 1999, Hill has been remarkable in re-writing the school record book en route to claiming back-to-back West Coast Conference Championship titles in 2002 and 2003 and also claiming the WCC crown in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Under his leadership, USD produced three consecutive first round picks in Kris Bryant, Conner Joe and Kyle Holder (2013-15). USD has had 44 players sign a pro contract in the last eight years, the Toreros have been ranked at some point during the season for 11 consecutive years, and USD has been tabbed the WCC preseason favorite for nine of the past ten years.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Toreros opened up their state-of-the-art Fowler Park and Cunningham Field venue for the 2013 season and it immediately was recognized as one of the best college baseball stadiums on the West Coast. The $13.8 million project was constructed in just 38 weeks, and was made possible by lead donors Ron and Alexis Fowler, along with more than 100 other donors. Highlights of the facility include a grand entry archway detailed in 16th century Spanish Renaissance architecture that connects the ballpark with nearby campus architecture. This leads fans onto the McGee Family Entry Deck which gives spectators a spectacular view of the entire ballpark, and once inside the park, fans never lose sight of the playing field.Fowler Park has 1,700 permanent seat-backs, but can be expanded to hold 3,000 fans with designed temporary seating areas. The majority of seating sections have only 14 rows, providing fans with excellent and intimate sightlines no matter where they are in the ballpark. This, along with a 25'x16' digital ICG scoreboard, a state-of-the-art green Musco Lighting System with eight light standards, and sunken team dugouts, makes Fowler Park equipped to host NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals. The state-of-the-art clubhouse for players and coaches that rivals MLB standards, includes a spacious locker room, player study lounge, coaches' offices, athletic training room, conference room, soft-toss area and mud room. Additionally, there are two luxury suites with high end finishes and indoor/outdoor seating, a press box area for radio/TV/game operations, public restrooms, concessions and ticket office. The Torero Deck, which sits on top of the clubhouse, has a synthetic turf miniature baseball field for kids to run around on during the contests. With views to the west of Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean, it is also a fabulous spot for receptions and group gatherings. Constructed with local and recycled materials, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and a sustainable site design, the project is designed to achieve LEED Silver Certification. Populous, the stadium's architect, and Turner Construction made Fowler Park's beautiful layout and design possible.