San Diego (20-7, 6-3 WCC)  •  San Francisco (13-16, 8-4 WCC)
Fowler Park (1,700) • San Diego, CA
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SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball (20-7, 6-3 WCC) is set to return home for the first time in 13 days on Friday, continuing West Coast Conference play with a three-game series against San Francisco (13-16, 8-4 WCC) at Fowler Park.

The Toreros' matchup with the Dons will begin on Friday with a 6 p.m. first pitch, Saturday's contest will get started at 4 p.m., and the series finale on Sunday will get going at 1 p.m.

All three games this weekend will be streamed live on the WCC Network, with longtime Torero broadcaster Jack Murray on the call.

USD Athletics is excited to welcome back limited spectators for home events. No tickets are available for the general public. Click here for more information regarding our 2021 spring season fan policy.
 
Fans can cheer on the Toreros this weekend through live statistics coverage on USDToreros.com, by following USD Baseball on social media, and by tuning in to the WCC Network on WCCSports.com/Watch.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO
• San Diego is 86-59 all-time against San Francisco, with the two programs' most recent meeting coming on March 24, 2019, a 6-4 USD win in San Diego.

• The Toreros are 6-4 in their last 10 matchups with the Dons, a span that dates back to April of 2016.

• San Diego is an even 6-6 at home versus San Francisco since Fowler Park opened in 2013.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
FRIDAY: Freshman Carter Rustad will make his first Friday night start of the 2021 season when he takes the mound in game one of the series against USF.

• Rustad rejoined the Toreros' starting rotation last week at LMU after a month-long stint in the bullpen.

• In that stint, which spanned five relief appearances and 13.1 innings pitched, Rustad did not allow an earned run, striking out seven against just three walks.

• In his most recent start last Saturday against the Lions, the 6-5 right-hander threw five strong innings, allowing zero runs while notching three strikeouts along the way to earn his third win of the season.

• Rustad tossed 86 pitches in what marked his fourth start of 2021, matching his total from a year ago in the pandemic-shortened season.

• A 2021 All-WCC Preseason team honoree, Rustad was a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American last season and led USD with a 0.84 ERA, which ranked second in the WCC and 39th nationally.

• The Kansas City, Missouri native is 3-0 with a 3.90 ERA so far this season. His 27.2 total innings pitched in 2021 is the second-most by any Torero pitcher so far this year.

SATURDAY: Sophomore Jake Miller is slated to take the mound in game two of the series on Saturday, returning to the USD rotation after not appearing in any of the Toreros' games at LMU last weekend.

• In his most recent start on March 26 versus Pacific, Miller enjoyed a solid outing, allowing just one unearned run across 4.2 innings pitched while matching his career high of 10 strikeouts.

• The Newbury Park, California native is 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 27.1 innings pitched so far in 2021. His 41 total strikeouts this year ranks second on the USD roster.

SUNDAY: San Diego's Sunday starter is TBA.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Toreros traveled to Los Angeles last weekend (4/9-4/11) for a road WCC series at Loyola Marymount, winning one of their three games against the Lions.

• USD dropped a 9-5 decision in the Friday game, took down LMU by a score of 6-0 on Saturday, and fell by a 4-2 margin in Sunday's series finale.

ON FRIDAY (9-5 LOSS):
• The Toreros plated three runs across the seventh and eighth innings courtesy of a sacrifice fly from junior Shane McGuire and a two-RBI double from true freshman Kevin Sim, but were unable to overcome the Lions' nine-run performance.

• Sim and senior Adam Lopez led the USD offense with three hits apiece, and sophomore righty Jack Dolak turned in San Diego's most impressive pitching performance of the game, striking out all six batters he faced out of the bullpen in two scoreless frames.

ON SATURDAY (6-0 WIN):
• The Toreros wasted no time in getting the scoring started in the series' middle game, immediately plating a run in the top of the first via a booming RBI double from senior third baseman Adam Lopez that caromed off the left field wall. A few batters later, graduate student Thomas Luevano sent an RBI single up the middle, and USD had an early lead.

• San Diego added to its advantage in the top of the third when true freshman Jack Costello ripped an two-RBI double down the left field line, then added two more runs in the top of the fifth after Luevano launched his team-leading eighth home run of the season to deep left-center to make it a 6-0 game.

• Freshman Carter Rustad started the contest on the mound for the Toreros and threw five run-free innings.

• He was relieved by Ivran Romero (Poway High School), who tossed four scoreless frames out of the bullpen to conclude the game.

ON SUNDAY (4-2 LOSS):
• The Toreros jumped out to an 1-0 advantage in the top of the first after graduate student Thomas Luevano ripped an RBI double to drive in his conference-leading 41st run of the year, but the Lions were able to answer with four runs of their own across the game's first, second, and fifth innings.

• Senior Adam Lopez brought San Diego to within two with an RBI single in the top of the sixth, but USD would get no closer.

• Freshman Jack Hyde tossed three innings of one-run ball out of the bullpen while scattering three hits.

• He was followed by graduate student Kieran Shaw, who pitched 3.2 perfect innings in relief in the loss, striking out three LMU batters in the game's final frames.

LUEVANO STAYS PRODUCTIVE
• Graduate student Thomas Luevano turned in another big performance last weekend at LMU, going 5-11 with four RBIs, three runs scored, a double and a home run against the Lions.

• On Friday, he added a hit and scored two runs.

• In Saturday's game, he sent an RBI single up the middle to give USD an early lead, then launched his team-leading eighth home run of the season to deep left center.

• And in the series finale on Sunday, Luevano ripped an RBI double to drive in his conference-leading 41st run of the year.

SIM SHINING
• Since returning to the starting lineup on March 30 after an 11-game hiatus, true freshman Kevin Sim has made the most of his playing time, going 7-18 (.388) after starting each of the Toreros' last five games.

• The Torrey Pines High School product was 4-11 in USD's series at LMU last weekend, adding two RBIs and a double, and has seen time at four different positions so far this season (DH, 3B 1B, and RF).

REMARKABLE START FOR ROMERO
• True freshman Ivran Romero (Poway High School) has allowed just two earned runs in 25 innings pitched so far this season, giving him a minuscule 0.72 ERA in 11 appearances out of the bullpen.

• Nearly all of his outings have come in high-leverage situations, and the San Diego native has pitched three innings or more in six of his 11 relief appearances so far this season.

• In his most recent outing on Saturday at LMU, Romero tossed four scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth en-route to seven total strikeouts as he finished the game on the mound for the Toreros.

RBI MACHINES
• San Diego's explosive start at the plate in 2021 has helped vault four Toreros to the top of the WCC's offensive leaderboards.

• Graduate student Thomas Luevano (first, 41 RBIs), senior Adam Lopez (second, 32 RBIs), junior Shane McGuire (seventh, 25 RBIs) and sophomore Cody Jefferis (10th, 21 RBIs) each own a spot on the conference's list of top RBI producers.

QUALITY AT-BATS
• Similarly, two Toreros have found themselves ranked in the NCAA's top 20 list of "Toughest players to Strike Out."

• Adam Lopez leads the way with a ranking of No. 9, Shane McGuire came in at No. 10, and Paul Kunst checked in at No. 15.

TORERO BATS LEAD THE WAY
• San Diego's offense as a whole has also topped the charts in multiple categories within the conference.

Those categories include:
RBIs (195), First in the WCC
Batting average (.312), First in the WCC
On-base percentage (.396), First in the WCC
Slugging percentage (.467), First in the WCC
• Additionally, San Diego's 125 total strikeouts at the plate are the fewest in the WCC by a 66-strikeout margin.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
• USD's team batting average (.312) ranks eighth in the nation, and the Toreros' hot start at the plate has propelled the team into the top 10 of multiple offensive categories within all of NCAA Division I.

Those categories include:
Batting average (.312), 8th in the NCAA
Doubles (69), 7th in the NCAA
Doubles per game (2.56) 2nd in the NCAA
Hit by Pitch (56), 6th in the NCAA
Sacrifice Flies (21), 3rd in the NCAA

BEST IN THE WEST (COAST CONFERENCE)
• From the beginning of the 2019 season until now, no team in the West Coast Conference has had a better record than San Diego baseball. Combining their 2019 record (32-21), their abbreviated 2020 totals (12-4), and their 20-7 mark so far this year, the Toreros are a conference-best 64-32 (.667) in that 96-game span.

• Next best within that timeframe are Saint Mary's (60-46, .566) and BYU (54-42, .562).