San Diego (0-0)  •  San Diego State (0-0)
Fowler Park (1,700)  •  San Diego, CA  |  Tony Gwynn Stadium (3,000)  •  San Diego, CA
Live Stream  •  Mountain West Network/WCC Network |  Live Statistics  •   GoAztecs.com/USDToreros.com
Social  •  Twitter.com/USDBaseball  •  Instagram.com/USDBaseball

SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball will begin its 2021 season with a trip to crosstown rival San Diego State for two games at Tony Gwynn Stadium this Friday and Saturday. The Toreros (0-0, 0-0 WCC), will then open their home schedule by welcoming the Aztecs (0-0, 0-0 MWC) to Fowler Park for the series finale on Sunday. All three contests will be played during the day, with first pitches coming at 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Due to current state and county guidelines, fans will not be permitted inside Fowler Park. Fans can tune into Sunday afternoon's contest on the WCC Network or by following along with live statistics coverage on USDToreros.com.

Home field advantage for the series was decided last month with a rock, paper, scissors battle in front of the Tony Gwynn statue at Petco Park. SDSU's Troy Melton defeated USD's Shane McGuire in a best of three bout to earn an extra home game for his team in the local tilt.

WHEN THE 2020 SEASON ENDED...
• The Toreros finished the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign with a 12-4 record, and were fresh off of a strong series at Indiana when the season came to a halt after their 2-0 win at Fowler Park over California Baptist on March 11. San Diego had a conference-best 24 RPI at the time, and the dominant start to the year made them the WCC's winningest program between the 2019 and 2020 seasons combined. San Diego was also leading the conference in doubles (35), hit by pitches (33), sacrifice flies (11), and shutouts (2).

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SAN DIEGO STATE
•USD is 57-74-2 against the Aztecs all time, though over the last decade the series has been nearly even, as San Diego is 10-11 against SDSU since 2011. The two programs were scheduled to face off twice as part of a home-and-home series last season, but both games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the most recent meeting in April of 2019, SDSU defeated USD by a 4-2 margin at Fowler Park. USD is 17-6 at Tony Gwynn Stadium since 2002, with a four-game win streak dating back to 2016, while they are just 1-8 versus the Aztecs at Fowler Park since it opened in 2013.

TOREROS PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN WCC
• USD finished third in the 2021 West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll behind Pepperdine and Gonzaga. The Toreros were one of four programs to receive a first-place vote.

STARTING THINGS OFF
• Sophomore right-hander Jake Miller is projected to take the mound for USD's first game of 2021. Miller appeared in five games in 2020, collecting a team-high 29 strikeouts in 21.2 innings of work, which included two starts. He finished with a 2.49 ERA and a 1-1 record, and threw San Diego's first no-hitter since 2008 against Monmouth on February 28.

• Freshman Carter Rustad is projected to start Saturday afternoon's contest. Rustad, a right-handed pitcher out of Kansas City, Missouri, dazzled in his first college campaign in 2020. Named a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, he started four games for the Toreros on the mound, leading the team with a 0.84 ERA which ranked second in the WCC and 39th nationally. The 6-foot-5 righty also ranked first in the WCC and second nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (2.11), and first in the WCC and second in the nation with four victories, finishing 4-0.

• Senior lefty Grady Miller is projected to close out the series on the hill for USD. Miller, a 6-4 senior, made five starts on the mound for the Toreros a year ago, collecting 23 strikeouts in 23.0 innings of work before he finished with a 3.13 ERA and a 2-0 record.

THREE MAKE ALL-WCC PRESEASON TEAM
• Freshman right-handed pitcher Carter Rustad, sophomore utility player Caleb Ricketts, and junior catcher/first baseman Shane McGuire were all selected to the All-WCC Preseason Team earlier this month. This is the third consecutive season that McGuire has received preseason recognition, while it marks the first time that Rustad and Ricketts were selected to the team.

PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
• McGuire, a junior out of Kent, Washington, batted a team-leading .469 (15-for-32) in 12 games last year, finishing fifth in hits (15) and collecting four doubles and one home run. He finished the season with his batting average ranked No. 2 in the WCC and No. 7 nationally.

• Ricketts, a sophomore utility player out of Newport Beach, California, also impressed at the plate last year. He batted .351, which ranked third for USD, finishing second in hits (20) with four doubles and one triple. Ricketts ranked sixth in the WCC in runs batted in, driving in a team-high 16 runs and finishing with a .456 slugging percentage in 2020.

THE ROSTER
• The Toreros return seven position starters from 2019 including Tora Otsuka (OF), Paul Kunst (OF), Thomas Luevano (INF), Caleb Ricketts (UTL), Shane McGuire (C/1B) and Cody Jefferis (MIF).

• San Diego starting pitchers Jake Miller, Grady Miller, and Carter Rustad are all set to return for the 2021  season. Righty reliever Conner Thurman is also back.

• USD's roster includes 10 upperclassmen, including four transfers: LHP Ryan Robinson (Ohlone College), INF RJ Teijeiro (UCLA), OF Peter Abinanti (St. John's), and RHP Kieran Shaw (Harvard). Of the 13 newcomers to USD, 9 of those are true freshmen, including OF/LHP Kyle Carr, OF Dustin Allen,  INF/RHP Michael Davinni, and RHP Lucas Braun.

PUTTING ON FOR THEIR CITY
• USD's 2021 roster includes 11 players who hail from local San Diego high schools. Those players are: OF/LHP Kyle Carr (San Marcos), RHP Jack Dolak  and C/UTL Angelo Peraza (St. Augustine), 3B Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines), 3B/LHP Ivran Romero (Poway), 3B Adam Lopez and LHP Jack Hyde (Grossmont), OF Tora Otsuka (Rancho Bernardo), LHP Brycen Mautz (Westview), (OF) Mike Yourg (Francis Parker), and LHP Cole Colleran (Canyon Crest Academy).

SCHOLAR BALLERS
•San Diego's 2021 roster also features four graduate students — Thomas Luevano, Paul Kunst, Peter Abinanti, and Kieran Shaw. One more player — redshirt junior RJ Teijeiro — has also already earned his undergraduate degree.

SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED
• Junior catcher Adam Kerner signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Diego Padres last June following the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 MLB Draft. Kerner was a two-time All-WCC selection in his three years at USD, recording a .305 average with 10 home runs and 67 RBIs. The Toreros have had at least one player sign a professional contract every year since 1990.

COACH HILL'S TWENTY-THIRD SEASON
• Rich Hill has built the USD Toreros into one of the most successful Division I baseball programs on the West Coast. The 2020 season is Hill's 34th year as a head coach at the collegiate level, and 23rd at San Diego, having enjoyed 28 winning seasons in 33 years. Coach Hill is the youngest active coach in NCAA D-I with 1,000 wins and the winningest coach in the WCC--both current and all-time.

• 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, also claiming the crown in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2015.

• Under his leadership, USD produced three consecutive first round picks in Kris Bryant, Connor Joe and Kyle Holder (2013-15). USD has had 56 players sign a pro contract in the last nine years and has been tabbed the WCC preseason favorite for nine of the past 13 years.