SAN DIEGO—San Diego takes on UC Irvine in Tuesday's home opener before co-hosting the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament with San Diego State.
 
The Toreros (2-1) will face the Anteaters (1-2) at 6 p.m. PT before hosting Nebraska, Seattle, Iowa, Arizona and Southern Illinois in the round-robin weekend tournament. USD will face the Huskers (1-2) on Friday at 6 p.m., the Redhawks (2-2) on Saturday at 6 p.m., and the Hawkeyes (2-1) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
Neutral games throughout the weekend include Southern Illinois/Arizona, Arizona/Iowa and Seattle/Southern Illinois.
 
All games will be streamed via the WCC Network and live statistics will be available on USDToreros.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego went 2-1 on opening weekend at the Angels College Classic. USD fell in a close one to Pepperdine on Friday, 5-4 before bouncing back with wins over Oregon (6-5) and Minnesota (7-3).
 
• The Toreros hit .265 as a team with 26 hits including two doubles. USD produced 17 runs with a .392 on-base percentage and went 10-for-12 in stolen bases.
 
• Redshirt senior Paul Kunst was a standout for USD, going 5-for-11 (.455), bringing in two runs and scoring four more. Kunst finished the weekend with a .455 slugging percentage and .538 on-base percentage. Kunst drove in USD's first run of the year with an RBI single in the first inning against Pepperdine on Friday night. He followed with back-to-back 2-for-3 performances, adding an RBI and a run scored on Saturday against Oregon and scoring three more times in Sunday's win over Minnesota.
 
• Freshman Carter Rustad (1-0, 0.00 ERA) turned in a strong performance in his debut for San Diego. The right-hander went five shutout innings to earn the 7-3 victory over Minnesota, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out four. Rustad faced just three batters over the minimum in his first collegiate start and helped USD improve to a 2-1 start to the season.
 
• The Toreros battled down to the wire with the Waves on Friday night. Shane McGuire put up a two-run double in the top of the ninth with the Toreros trailing 2-5, but the tying run was thrown out at the plate and a groundout ended the comeback. Sophomores Jake Miller and Jack Dolak each totaled five strikeouts for USD.
 
• It was a different story in game two, with the Toreros rallying from a 5-5 tie in the ninth inning to get the win over the Ducks on Saturday night. Redshirt freshman Conner Thurman got the win for the Toreros (3.0 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 3 K) and sophomore Kohl Simas (3.0 IP, 0 H, 4 BB, 6 K) turned in a solid performance in his USD debut.
 
• San Diego piled it on in the finale, scoring one run in the first inning and three in the third and fourth innings behind a four-RBI performance from Caleb Ricketts (3-for-5, 4 RBI, 1 SB) while freshman RHP Carter Rustad held the Gophers scoreless through five innings in his first collegiate start.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST UC IRVINE
• The Toreros trail in the all-time series with the Anteaters, 47-60-1. The teams split the series last season with UCI taking the meeting in Irvine, 17-7 and the Toreros took the game at Fowler Park, 4-1.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST NEBRASKA 1-2
• The Cornhuskers lead the all-time series 2-1 over USD. The teams last met on Feb. 26, 2016—also at the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament—with the Toreros coming out on top 17-5.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SEATTLE
• This is the first meeting between the Toreros and the Redhawks.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST IOWA 2-0
• The Toreros lead the all-time series with the Hawkeyes, 2-0. The teams met for a two-game series in 1988 with the Toreros coming out on top 11-4 and 7-3. At the time the Toreros were led by current USD broadcast color commentator and hall of fame coach, John Cunningham.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Tuesday: USD LHP Grady Miller (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs UCI LHP Nick Pinto (FR)
Friday: USD RHP Jack Hyde (0-0, 15.00 ERA) vs NEB LHP Gareth Stroh (1-0, 6.75 ERA)
Saturday: USD RHP Carter Rustad (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs SEA LHP Ethan Christianson (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday: USD LHP Grady Miller (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs IOWA RHP Duncan Davitt (0-0, 3.00 ERA)

14 FOR 14
• The Toreros will join baseball teams across the country and observe 14 seconds of silence before their home opener on Tuesday to honor Orange Coast College head baseball coach John Altobelli and his family, who tragically lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in Calabasas, Calif.
 
• Altobelli was a longtime friend of the USD baseball program and San Diego Athletic Director Bill McGillis. "Alto" as he was often called, wore number 14 throughout his playing and coaching career.
 
THE ROSTER
• The Toreros return six position starters from 2019 including Tora Otsuka (OF), Paul Kunst (MIF/OF), Adam Kerner (C), Caleb Ricketts (UTL), Shane McGuire (1B) and Cody Jefferis (MIF).
 
• LHP Grady Miller is projected to be USD's Friday starter on the mound and RHP Jake Miller will transition to a relief role after making seven starts as a true freshman in 2019.
 
• USD's roster includes 12 upperclassmen, including two transfers in RHP Garrett Rennie (Long Beach CC) and grad transfer INF Thomas Luevano (Creighton). Of the 17 newcomers to USD, 11 of those are true freshmen, including OF Michael Dixon II, LHP/OF Eddy Pelc and INF Chase Meidroth.
 
IMPACT FRESHMEN
• San Diego's group of talented newcomers features 11 true freshmen, including RHP Jack Hyde and RHP Carter Rustad who are expected to make starts early in the season for the Toreros. Rustad was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 23rd round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
 
• Redshirt freshman Conner Thurman is also expected to contribute significantly on the mound in a relief role.
 
ALL-WCC RETURNERS
• Seven Toreros earned All-WCC honors last season, with three returning in 2020 including juniors Adam Kerner (catcher) and Shane McGuire (catcher/first base) who both earned honorable mention. Kerner led the team in WCC play with 22 RBI and collected a team-high six home runs. McGuire posted a .444 on-base percentage with 64 hits and 34 walks to tie for team-best with 42 runs scored.
 
• Sophomore Cody Jefferis was named to the All-WCC Freshman Team after making 49 starts, primarily at second base. Jefferis finished with 41 hits, including a team-high 13 doubles.
 
DRAFTED
• Five Toreros were taken in the 2019 MLB Draft, marking the seventh-straight season USD had four or more players selected.
 
• Junior LHP Chris Murphy led the group, with his sixth-round selection (197th overall) by the Boston Red Sox. Joining Murphy on day two was senior infielder Jeff Houghtby, who was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 10th round (296th overall).
 
• RHP Travis Kuhn (19th round, 576th overall, Seattle Mariners), Ripken Reyes (30th round, 893rd overall, San Diego Padres) and LHP Josh Hendrickson (38th round, 1,140th overall, Philadelphia Phillies) were all selected on the final day to round out the group.