San Diego (22-8, 8-4 WCC)  •  Santa Clara (12-20, 5-10 WCC)
Stephen Schott Stadium (1,500) • Santa Clara, CA
Live Stream  •  WCC Network  |  Live Statistics  •   SantaClaraBroncos.com
Social  •  Twitter.com/USDBaseball  •  Instagram.com/USDBaseball

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. — San Diego baseball (21-8, 8-4 WCC) is set to begin a two-week road swing this weekend at Santa Clara, taking on the Broncos (12-20, 5-10 WCC) for a three-game West Coast Conference series at Stephen Schott Stadium.

The Toreros' matchups with Santa Clara will begin on Friday at 3 pm., followed by a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday and a 12 p.m. series finale on Sunday.

All three games this weekend will be streamed live on the WCC Network.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SANTA CLARA
•San Diego is 67-62 against the Broncos all-time, with the two programs' most recent meeting coming on May 5, 2019, an 8-6 USD win in Santa Clara.

•The Toreros are an even 5-5 in their last 10 matchups with SCU, a span that dates back to April of 2016.

•USD is 17-4 at Stephen Schott Stadium since it opened in 2005.

LAST TIME OUT
•San Diego rallied to take two of three from San Francisco last weekend after suffering a tough loss in the series' first game.

•USD dropped a 12-1 decision on Friday, beat the Dons by a score of 7-5 on Saturday, and finished the series strong with an 8-1 victory in the series finale on Sunday.

ON FRIDAY (12-1 LOSS):
•In just the Toreros' second defeat of the season at Fowler Park, USF plated runs in every inning except for the sixth and the eighth, and bolstered their lead with a four-run second inning.

•The Toreros scored their lone run via an RBI single from graduate student Paul Kunst in the bottom of the fifth that plated sophomore Cody Jefferis.

•Freshman Eddy Pelc turned in USD's most effective outing of the evening on the mound, throwing 2.2 innings in relief while allowing an earned run on two hits with two strikeouts.

ON SATURDAY (7-5 WIN):
•After a quiet night at the plate on Friday, the Toreros quickly surged ahead in the series' middle game, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning via an RBI double from junior Tora Otsuka, an RBI single from sophomore Caleb Ricketts, and a throwing error by the Dons.

•USD plated two more in the third courtesy of an opposite-field RBI single from true freshman Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School), then added one final insurance run in the eighth when Sim notched a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-5 game.

•Sophomore Jake Miller started the game on the mound for San Diego, allowing two earned runs in five innings of work, striking out four in the process in what marked his first appearance in more than 20 days.

•Miller was relieved by true freshman Ivran Romero and graduate student Kieran Shaw, who teamed up to pitch the contest's final four innings out of the bullpen for USD. Romero surrendered an earned run on three hits in two innings of work, then Shaw closed the game out with two scoreless frames, allowing only two hits while striking out three to earn his fifth save of 2021.

ON SUNDAY (8-1 WIN):
•The Toreros jumped out to an early lead for the second game in a row, plating a run in the bottom of the first when graduate student Thomas Luevano doubled to drive in his conference-leading 42nd run of the year. San Diego added on in the bottom half of the fifth with two sacrifice flies from graduate student Paul Kunst and freshman Will Worthington.

•In the top of the seventh, Worthington launched his first college home run (solo) to right field, to move the score to 4-1, then a sacrifice fly from true freshman Kevin Sim, a bases-loaded walk from Kunst, and a two-RBI single from sophomore shortstop Cody Jefferis made it an 8-1 game.

•Redshirt sophomore Conner Thurman started the game on the mound for the Toreros, throwing five innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts in his sixth start of the season to earn the win and move to 4-2. He was relieved by redshirt sophomore Ryan Robinson, who tossed two scoreless frames with a strikeout before freshman Jack Hyde closed the game out with two run-free frames of his own to secure San Diego's 8-1 victory and earn his first save of 2021.

LUEVANO LOCKED IN
•Graduate student Thomas Luevano continued his dynamic season at the plate last weekend, going 3-for-9 (.333), with a run scored, an RBI, and two doubles in three games against San Francisco

•Luevano, a native of Santa Clarita, California, leads the Toreros in RBIs (42), doubles (11), home runs (eight), slugging percentage (.682), and OPS (1.076).

•His 42 runs batted in so far also leads the WCC by a 12-run margin.

RICKETTS RAKES VERSUS DONS
•Sophomore Caleb Ricketts also enjoyed a productive series against USF, going 4-for-8 (.500) with two runs scored, an RBI, and a walk.

•The Orange County, California native is 8-16 in his last five games, with three multi-hit games under his belt in that span.

•Additionally, Ricketts made two defensive plays at first base late in Saturday's game that proved to be instrumental in San Diego's 7-5 win.

•In the ninth inning, he was part of a clutch, heads-up double play, firing a strike across the diamond to shortstop Cody Jefferis after a 5-3 putout, who then ranged to his right to cover third, leapt, and made a mid-air tag over the bag to extinguish San Francisco's last-chance rally.

•Two pitches later, Ricketts made a diving stop up the line at first for the contest's final out, finalizing the victory in the series' middle game for USD.

JEFFERIS STAYS STEADY
•Sophomore shortstop Cody Jefferis has been perhaps the Toreros' most consistent hitter thus far, posting a .345 (40-116) batting average with 23 RBIs, 22 runs scored, eight doubles, and 51 total bases though all 30 of San Diego's games.

•One of just three USD players to have started every game and the only one to have started every game at one position, Jefferis kept up his productive ways at the plate against San Francisco, notching hits in all three contests while adding two RBIs, two runs scored, and two walks.

•The Valencia, California native has also provided plus defense up the middle, frequently saving runs and taking hits away with his diving stops and heads-up plays.

WORTH(INGTON) THE WAIT
•Freshman infielder Will Worthington made the most of his single start last weekend versus the Dons, going 1-for-2 on Sunday with two runs scored, two RBIs, a sacrifice fly, and his first college home run.

•Worthington's solo shot to left field came on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the seventh and gave his team a 4-1 lead.

•The Phoenix, Arizona native also made a rangy play at second base to turn a key double play with runners at first and second and one out in the fourth inning that helped the Toreros escape from a jam.

•Worthington has now started six games in 2021, all at second base.

CONSISTENCY FROM COSTELLO
•True freshman Jack Costello has impressed in his first college season, batting a WCC-leading .378 (37-98) with 13 RBIs, nine doubles two triples, and a home run so far in 2021.

•His hot start to the season has included a 12-game hit streak (3/4-3/23), two three-game hit streaks (3/30-4/3 and 4-16-Present), and 12 multi-hit games.

•The Simi Valley, California native's 12-game hit streak included strings of five games in a row with two hits (3/5-3/13), four games in a row with two hits (3/14-3/21), and concluded with a five-hit night on 3/23 at USC.

•This past weekend against San Francisco, Costello turned in another strong series, notching a hit in all three games versus the Dons en-route to a 3-for-9 overall weekend with two runs scored and a triple.

•On March 25, Costello was one of ten players named to Baseball America's Freshman of the Year award watch list.

SIM SHINING
•Since returning to the USD starting lineup on March 30 after an 11-game hiatus, true freshman Kevin Sim has made the most of his playing time, going 8-24 (.333) after starting six of the Toreros' last seven games.

•The Torrey Pines High School product added a clutch two-RBI single and a sacrifice fly in San Diego's 7-5 win on Saturday over the Dons, came in to score a run in the team's 8-1 victory on Sunday, and has 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 three earned runs in 27 innings pitched so far this season, giving him a minuscule 1.00 ERA in 12 appearances out of the bullpen.

•Nearly all of the young right-hander's outings have come in high-leverage situations, and the San Diego native has pitched three innings or more in six of his 12 relief appearances so far this season.

ROBINSON STRONG OUT OF BULLPEN
•Redshirt sophomore righty Ryan Robinson has been as trustworthy as they come out of the bullpen for the Toreros, allowing just one earned run in 10 relief appearances (13.2 innings pitched), good for a stingy 0.66 ERA.

•In his most recent outing against San Francisco on Sunday, the Ohlone College (Fremont, CA) transfer turned in two scoreless frames while allowing one hit and recording a strikeout.

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, 42 RBIs), senior Adam Lopez (second, 32 RBIs), junior Shane McGuire (seventh, 25 RBIs) and sophomore Cody Jefferis (8th, 23 RBIs) each own a spot on the conference's list of top RBI producers.

QUALITY AT-BATS
•Similarly, three Toreros have found themselves ranked in the NCAA's top 25 list of "Toughest players to Strike Out."

•Adam Lopez leads the way with a ranking of No. 5, Paul Kunst came in at No. 14, and Shane McGuire checked in at No. 22.

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

Those categories include:
•Batting average (.304), First in the WCC
•On-base percentage (.390), First in the WCC
•Slugging percentage (.455), First in the WCC

•Additionally, San Diego's 134 total strikeouts at the plate are the fewest in the WCC by a 85-strikeout margin.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
USD's team batting average (.304) ranks eighteenth in the nation, and the Toreros' hot start at the plate has propelled the team into the top 20 of multiple offensive categories within all of NCAA Division I.

Those categories include:
•Batting average (.304), 18th in the NCAA
•Doubles (73), 13th in the NCAA
•Doubles per game (2.43) 4th in the NCAA
•Hit by Pitch (60), 8th in the NCAA
•Sacrifice Flies (25), 1st 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 22-8 mark so far this year, the Toreros are a conference-best 66-33 (.667) in that 99-game span.

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