San Diego (19-5, 5-1 WCC)  •  Loyola Marymount (9-17, 2-7 WCC)
Page Stadium (1,000) • Los Angeles, CA
Live Stream  •  WCC Network |  Live Statistics  •   LMULions.com
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LOS ANGELES — After a weeklong hiatus from conference play, San Diego baseball (19-5, 5-1 WCC) resumes the WCC portion of its schedule with a three-game set at Loyola Marymount University (9-17, 2-7 WCC).

Friday and Saturday's games will begin at 6 p.m. at Page Stadium before the series concludes with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday afternoon. All three games will be streamed live on the WCC Network.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST LMU
• San Diego is 90-105-1 against the Lions all-time, with the two programs' most recent meeting coming on April 14, 2019, an 11-8 USD win in Los Angeles.

• The Toreros are 4-6 in their last 10 overall matchups with LMU, but are an even 5-5 in their last 10 games at Page Stadium, a span that dates back to April of 2013.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
FRIDAY: Conner Thurman will make his first Friday night start of the season when he takes the mound against the Lions in game one.

• The redshirt freshman is 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA in a team-high 34.1 innings pitched so far this season, and also leads the Toreros with 47 strikeouts.

• In his most recent outing on April 3 against Cal State Fullerton, Thurman threw seven innings of one-run ball, scattering four hits while striking out seven to receive the win.

• The Mesa, Arizona native was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week on March 16 after he fanned 12 batters in seven scoreless, two-hit innings versus UC Riverside.

SATURDAY: Freshman Carter Rustad is set to make his return to the San Diego starting rotation on Saturday night, marking his first start on the mound since March 5 at UC San Diego and his fourth overall in 2021, matching his total from a year ago in the pandemic-shortened season.

• After moving to the bullpen following that outing in La Jolla, Rustad did not allow an earned run in 13.1 innings pitched in relief, striking out seven against just three walks in that span.

• In his most recent appearance on April 2 at CSUF, he threw 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

• 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 2-0 with a 4.76 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched so far this season.

SUNDAY: The Toreros' starting pitcher for Sunday is TBA.

LAST TIME OUT
FRIDAY/SATURDAY: USD quickly pivoted to a new opponent last week after its weekend series with Pepperdine was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Waves program, instead taking on Cal State Fullerton in an impromptu two-game set on April 2nd and 3rd.

• The Toreros dropped a 3-1 decision at Goodwin Field before taking down the Titans by an 8-2 margin the following night in a nationally televised matchup (ESPNU) at Fowler Park.

TUESDAY: The Toreros handily defeated NAIA foe Vanguard University, taking down the Lions by a score of 10-4 at Fowler Park in their mid-week non-conference tuneup.

POLL POSITION
• San Diego placed in the Collegiate Baseball national poll for the third week in a row on Monday, moving up two spots to No. 27.

• The Toreros' recent ranking marks 15 consecutive years of the team being nationally ranked by at least one national college baseball publication.

BEST 24-GAME START IN NEARLY 20 YEARS
• The Toreros' 19-5 start so far in 2021 is the team's best since 2002, when San Diego also went 19-5 in its first 24 contests.

• The season was just head coach Rich Hill's fourth at the helm, and the team went on to finish the year 39-23 overall and 20-12 in WCC play before winning the conference and appearing in an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history.

TORERO BATS LEAD THE WAY
• San Diego's 199 runs scored through Thursday (4/8) lead the WCC by a 20-run margin, and the team's offense as a whole has topped the charts in several categories within the conference.

Those categories include:
Doubles (64), First in the WCC
RBIs (183), First in the WCC
Batting average (.317), First in the WCC
On-base percentage (.403), First in the WCC
Slugging percentage (.483), First in the WCC

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
• USD's team batting average (.317) ranks fifth in the nation, and the Toreros' hot start at the plate has propelled the team into the top 20 of several offensive categories within all of NCAA Division I.

Those categories include:
(Categories in which San Diego is in the top five are in bold)
Batting average (.317), 5th in the NCAA
On Base Percentage (.403), 19th in the NCAA
Slugging Percentage (.483), 15th in the NCAA
Runs scored (199), 20th in the NCAA
Doubles (64), 2nd in the NCAA
Doubles per game (2.67) 1st in the NCAA
Hit by Pitch (52), 5th in the NCAA
Sacrifice Flies (20), 1st in the NCAA

LUEVANO LEADS THE WAY
• Graduate student Thomas Luevano turned in a strong performance at the plate last week, going 5-12 (.416) with six RBIs, four runs scored, two doubles, a triple, and a home run between a game against Vanguard and two against CSUF, striking out only once in that three-game span.

• On Tuesday against Vanguard, he led the way for USD at the plate with two hits, two runs scored, and three RBIs, sending a booming triple to the deepest part of the park in the fifth inning to drive in two after he plated a run in the second with a single.

• And on Saturday versus CSUF, Luevano ignited the San Diego offense by going 3-4 with three RBIs, two doubles, two runs scored, and a home run.

• He got the scoring started for San Diego with a double to deep center field in the bottom of the fourth, hammered a solo home run to left field in the sixth, and doubled again to drive in a run in the last half of the seventh.

• Luevano is now batting .311 (28-90) in 2021 with a team-high seven home runs and 61 total bases. His 37 RBIs leads the WCC and ranks fourth in the nation.

SIM SHINES
• True freshman Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School) made the most of his two starts last week (3/30 and 4/3), going 3-7 with two RBIs, two runs scored, and a stolen base across both contests. Those RBIs included a go-ahead single against CSUF on Saturday that helped lead the Toreros to victory over the Titans.

• Sim, who had last started a game on March 7th against UCSD, played first base for the first time in his college career on Tuesday against Vanguard, doing so again versus Fullerton on Saturday while providing error-free defense.

COSTELLO STAYS HOT
• Already with a 12-game hit streak under his belt from earlier this season, true freshman Jack Costello remains one of the Toreros' hottest hitters in 2021, going 4-11 (.363) with an RBI and three runs scored across USD's three games last week.

• He has recorded at least one hit in 19 of the 22 games he has appeared in this season, and has notched multiple hits in 12 of those contests.

• The Simi Valley, California native is now batting a WCC-high .423 (33-78) on the year with 11 RBIs, 19 runs scored, eight doubles, a triple and a home run.

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

JEFFERIS STAYS STEADY
• Sophomore shortstop Cody Jefferis has been perhaps the Toreros' most consistent hitter thus far, posting a .368 (35-95) batting average with 21 RBIs, 19 runs scored, eight doubles, and 46 total bases though all 24 of San Diego's games.

• One of just four 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 last week, notching a hit in all but one of USD's contests.

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

ALLEN IMPRESSES IN EARLY OFFERINGS
• True freshman Dustin Allen continued what's been a productive start to his college career, going 3-10 across all three of the Toreros' games last week with two RBIs and a run scored.

• Allen is batting .476 (10-21) with three doubles and three RBIs through his first 17 games — which includes six starts — in a USD uniform.

• A native of Arcadia, California, Allen has provided valuable contributions on both sides of the ball. In the top of the first inning against CSUF on April 4, he robbed a home run in center field with a leaping catch up against the wall, one of several stellar defensive plays he has made so far this season.

REMARKABLE START FOR ROMERO
• True freshman Ivran Romero (Poway High School) has allowed just two earned runs in 21 innings pitched so far this season, giving him a minuscule 0.86 ERA in 10 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 five of his 10 relief appearances so far this season.

BRAUN STRONG IN TUESDAY MATCHUP
• Freshman Lucas Braun set forth an impressive performance on the mound versus Vanguard last Tuesday, earning his first win of the year after going three shutout innings with three strikeouts while allowing only two hits.

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, 37 RBIs), senior Adam Lopez (second, 30 RBIs), junior Shane McGuire (tied for fourth, 24 RBIs) and sophomore Cody Jefferis (eighth, 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. 8, and Shane McGuire came in at No. 9.

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 19-5 mark so far this year, the Toreros are a conference-best 63-30 (.677) in that 93-game span.

• Next best within that timeframe are Saint Mary's (59-43, .578) and BYU (52-41, .559).