San Diego (29-10, 15-6 WCC)  •  Portland (23-24, 13-11 WCC)
Fowler Park (1,700) • San Diego, CA
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SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball (29-10, 15-6 WCC) resumes West Coast Conference play after a BYE week by welcoming Portland (23-24, 13-11 WCC) to Fowler Park for a three-game series that will conclude the Toreros' 2021 home schedule.

The WCC matchup is set to begin on Thursday evening with a 6 p.m. first pitch, followed by two more 6 p.m. starts on Friday and Saturday. USD will honors its five graduating players — Grady Miller, Adam Lopez, Paul Kunst, Kieran Shaw, and Thomas Luevano — in a ceremony before Saturday night's game.

All three contests will be streamed live on the WCC Network, with longtime Torero broadcaster Jack Murray (play-by-play) on the call. For the first time this season, Murray will be joined by former San Diego baseball head coach John "JC" Cunningham (analyst) in the broadcast booth. Cunningham, a member of the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and the USD Athletics Chet & Marguerite Pagni Family Hall of Fame, led the Toreros on the diamond from 1964-1998.

USD enters the weekend two games back of first-place Gonzaga in the WCC standings, while Portland is 5.5 games back of Gonzaga, 3.5 games back of San Diego, and in a tie for fourth place with BYU.

At 29-10, the Toreros are out to their best 39-game start since 2012, when the team began the season 30-9 before it finished the year 40-17 (15-9 WCC) and appeared in an NCAA Regional.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PORTLAND
• San Diego is 59-26 against Portland all-time, with the two programs' most recent meeting coming in April of 2019, a 20-0 USD loss at Fowler Park.

• The Toreros are 8-2 in their last 10 matchups with the Pilots, a span that dates back to April of 2016.

• USD is 11-1 at home versus Portland since Fowler Park opened in 2013.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
THURSDAY: Sophomore right-hander Jake Miller is slated to make his team-best ninth start in game one of a series when he takes the mound on Thursday night versus the Pilots. 

• Miller is 5-1 with a WCC-best 2.12 ERA in 10 appearances so far this season (all starts), and ranks second on the USD roster in both strikeouts (71) and innings pitched (51.0).

• Last time out versus BYU (May 6), Miller turned in seven dominant innings, allowing just two earned runs while walking none, scattering four hits and recording a career-high 14 strikeouts , the most by any USD pitcher in a single game in 2021.

• On May 3, the Newbury Park, California native was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week after throwing six shutout innings with eight strikeouts against Pepperdine.

FRIDAY: USD's Friday night starter is TBA.

SATURDAY: USD's Saturday night starter is TBA.

LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego dropped two hard-fought losses to conference foe BYU before earning a thrilling comeback win in the series finale versus the Cougars on May 8.

• The Toreros fell to BYU by a score of 6-4 in 10 innings on Thursday night (May 6), was defeated 11-10 on Friday night, and stormed back for a 13-12 win in the bottom of the ninth of Saturday afternoon (May 8)'s game.

ON THURSDAY (6-4 LOSS IN 10 INNINGS):
• The Cougars pushed across the game's decisive runs in the top of the 10th when Andrew Pintar sent a two-run homer to left field to move the score to 6-4 in favor of BYU.

• The Toreros plated four runs by way of RBI singles from freshman Will Worthington and junior Tora Otsuka, a solo home run to deep left field by senior Adam Lopez, and an RBI double into the right-center field gap by graduate student Thomas Luevano.

• Junior catcher Shane McGuire joined Luevano as the only other San Diego player with multiple hits in the contest, going 2-for-5 with a run scored and two singles.

• Sophomore right-hander Jake Miller started the game on the mound for USD and twirled a gem, setting a new career high in strikeouts (14) while allowing just two earned runs across seven innings of work. He walked none in his outing and scattered only four hits.

ON FRIDAY (10-11 LOSS):
• Freshman Chase Meidroth launched a pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, but a last-chance USD comeback fell short at Fowler Park.

• San Diego struck first with a run in the top of the first (graduate student Thomas Luevano's 55th RBI of 2021) but fell behind early after the Cougars plated seven runs in the top of the second and spent nearly the entirety of the game playing catchup. The Toreros pulled within three runs of BYU three times, including their ninth inning comeback, but could never fully close the gap on the Cougars.

• Jefferis, Luevano, and sophomore Caleb Ricketts led the USD offense with three hits apiece, while McGuire recorded two hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs. Sophomore Max Jung-Goldberg joined Meidroth in putting together an impressive night off the bench, going 2-for-2 with a run scored and a run batted in after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh.

• On the mound, San Diego's relievers did their best to hang tough after being tasked with the game's final 7.2 innings. Senior lefty Grady Miller turned in the Toreros' longest outing of the evening with 2.1 frames of one-run ball with three strikeouts, while freshman Brycen Mautz set forth USD's lone scoreless performance out of the bullpen, throwing 1.1 run-free innings with a single strikeout. As a whole the Toreros' relief corps stranded 14 BYU baserunners on the evening, with both Grady Miller and sophomore right-hander Jack Dolak working their way out of bases-loaded jams.

ON SATURDAY (13-12 WALK-OFF WIN):
• The Toreros entered the game's final frame trailing by three runs, but sophomore Caleb Ricketts began the inning with a sharp double down the right field line. True freshman Jack Costello sent a single to center field a batter later, and for the second time in as many days USD was threatening with a late-game rally.

• After freshman Michael Dixon II pinch ran for Costello at first, junior outfielder Tora Otsuka beat out a ground ball past the pitcher's mound for an infield hit, passing the metaphorical baton to freshman Chase Meidroth. Meidroth — who had launched his first college home run in the bottom of the ninth on Friday night — kept the line moving by reaching on a fielder's choice after hitting a ground ball to BYU first baseman Cooper Vest.

• With the bases loaded and additional pinch runners Paul Kunst (graduate student) and Angelo Peraza (true freshman) running for Otsuka and Meidroth, pinch hitter Max Jung-Goldberg (sophomore) walked after working a full count, plating Dixon II to bring the Toreros to within one. Up next was sophomore Cody Jefferis, who continued his dynamic day at the plate by tying the game with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Kunst to knot the game at 12 runs apiece.

• Junior catcher Shane McGuire then strode to the plate and delivered the game's decisive blow, lifting an RBI sacrifice fly to right field that brought home Peraza to complete the four-run comeback and secure the 13-12 walk-off win for San Diego.

• Every San Diego player who recorded a hit on the day notched at least two, while a pair of Toreros — graduate student Thomas Luevano and Ricketts — put up three-hit performances. Luevano was 3-for-5 with his 10th home run of the season (tied for the WCC lead), an RBI (his WCC-leading 56th), and a run scored, while Ricketts went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a run batted in.

• Jefferis, redshirt freshman Camden Vasquez, McGuire, and Costello all had multiple RBIs in Saturday's win as well.

• Freshman Brycen Mautz (Westview High School) was the highlight of Saturday's game on the mound for USD, turning in the Toreros' lone scoreless outing in the contest with two run-free frames with a hit allowed and a strikeout in the eighth and ninth.

FOWLER MAGIC
• San Diego is 20-4 at Fowler Park so far this season, which matches or exceeds the program's home win total from each of the last 11 years.

• USD could notch its 21st and 22nd home wins of 2021 with a pair of victories over Portland this weekend, which would best the 2017 squad's 21-8-1 mark at the Toreros' home venue and set the record for most wins in a single season at Fowler Park since it opened in 2013.

• And with a sweep of the Pilots, San Diego could secure its most home wins since 2008, when the team went 26-8 at John Cunningham Stadium.

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 29-10 mark so far this year, the Toreros are a conference-best 73-35 (.675) in that 108-game span.

• Next best within that timeframe are Gonzaga (67-48, .582), and Saint Mary's (66-54, .550).

• Portland (59-55, .517) ranks sixth.

LUEVANO STAYS HOT
• Thomas Luevano mashed his way to another big series against BYU from May 6-8, going 8-for-15 (.533) with a double, a home run, and three RBIs across all three of USD's games versus the Cougars.

• The graduate student recorded multiple hits in all three contests, extending his current hit streak to eight games.

• He put up a single and a double in game one, three singles in game two, and two singles and a deep home run off Fowler Park's batter's eye in game three.

• Luevano has been among the nation's most potent bats in 2021, batting .356/.433/.699 (52-146) with 10 home runs, 16 doubles, two triples, and a West Coast Conference-best 56 RBIs that ranks 11th nationally.

• Within the conference his .356 batting average and .699 slugging percentage rank first, his 56 RBIs are the most by a 16-run margin, his 16 doubles rank second, and his 10 home runs are tied for third.

• Additionally, Luevano's 1.44 runs batted in per game ranks third in all of NCAA Division I.

• Luevano, a native of Santa Clarita, California, has started all 39 of USD's games in 2021 (one of only three players to do so), appearing in 14 at second base, one in left field, and 24 as the team's designated hitter.

• He transferred to San Diego from Creighton, where he played his junior and senior years as a two-year starter at shortstop.

• Prior to Creighton, Luevano spent two seasons at Moorpark College (2015-16), utilizing a redshirt in 2016 due to injury.

MCGUIRE HEATS UP VERSUS BYU
• Junior catcher Shane McGuire also enjoyed a productive series against the Cougars, notching two hits in each of the Toreros' three games from May 6-8.

• The Kent, Washington native was 2-for-5 with a pair of singles and a run scored on Thursday night, went 2-for-5 with a single, a triple, two runs scored, two RBIs, and a walk on Friday, and put together a 1-for-4 afternoon in the series finale on Saturday with two singles, a walk, a run scored, and two RBIs that included a game-winning, walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning that pushed San Diego to a 13-12 comeback victory.

• McGuire is batting .271/.379/.490 (42-155) so far this season with 30 RBIs, 12 doubles, six home runs, and a team-best 41 runs scored that ranks second in the West Coast Conference.

• One of three players to have started all 39 of USD's games so far this season, including 31 of them at catcher, McGuire boasts a .992 fielding percentage and has caught 10 of 20 would-be base stealers along with his WCC-leading 355 total putouts. 

• Named the WCC Player of the Week on March 30 and a member of the 2021 All-WCC Preseason Team, McGuire has notched four separate four-game hit streaks in 2021 and is the 19th-toughest player to strike out in all of NCAA Division I. 

JEFFERIS STEADY AS EVER AT SHORTSTOP
• Sophomore shortstop Cody Jefferis has been perhaps the Toreros' most consistent hitter thus far, posting a .346 (53-153) batting average with 30 RBIs, 30 runs scored, 10 doubles, and 68 total bases through all 39 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 BYU, going 6-for-16 (.375), in the weekend series with two runs scored and two RBIs.

• 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.

CALEB CRUSHES IT AGAINST COUGARS
• Sophomore catcher/first baseman Caleb Ricketts continued his steady improvement at the plate against BYU, notching a hit in every game against the Cougars to go 7-for-13 (.538) with five runs scored, two doubles, two RBIs, and a walk on the weekend.

• The Orange County, California native has raised his batting average 75 points since March 30, and now has a .297 (43-145) average in 2021 through 37 games with a pair of home runs, 12 doubles, and 19 RBIs to his credit.

CONSISTENCY FROM COSTELLO
• True freshman Jack Costello has impressed in his first college season, batting .343 (46-134) with 20 RBIs, 11 doubles, two triples, and two home runs 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 4/16-4/18), and 15 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), and  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 BYU, Costello turned in another strong series, adding three hits, two RBIs, three runs scored, and a double in three games versus the Cougars.

• His .343 batting average ranks sixth in the WCC and is first among all qualified first-year players in the conference.

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

RBI MACHINES
• San Diego's explosive start at the plate in 2021 has helped vault four Toreros to the top 20 of the WCC's offensive leaderboards.

• Graduate student Thomas Luevano (first, 56 RBIs), senior Adam Lopez (fourth, 36 RBIs), sophomore Cody Jefferis (tied for tenth, 30 RBIs), and junior Shane McGuire (tied for 10th, 30 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 team with a ranking of No. 3, Jack Costello came in at No. 16, Shane McGuire checked in at No. 19, and Tora Otsuka was No. 21.

TORERO BATS LEAD THE WAY
• San Diego's offense as a whole is also either first or second in several categories within the conference.

Those categories include:
• Batting average (.305), First in the WCC
• Doubles (94), Second in the WCC by two doubles to Gonzaga
• RBIs (273), First in the WCC
• On-base percentage (.389), First in the WCC
• Slugging percentage (.449), First in the WCC
• Runs scored (297), Second in the WCC by one run to Gonzaga

• Additionally, San Diego's 174 total strikeouts at the plate are the fewest in the WCC by a 110-strikeout margin.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
• USD's team batting average (.305) ranks 15th in the nation, and the Toreros' hot start at the plate has propelled the team into the top 25 of multiple offensive categories within all of NCAA Division I.

Those categories include:
• Batting average (.305), 15th in the NCAA
• Doubles per game (2.41) 3rd in the NCAA
• Hit by Pitch (82), 7th in the NCAA
• Sacrifice Flies (32), 3rd in the NCAA
• Scoring (7.6 runs per game), 18th in the NCAA

SENIOR NIGHT
• San Diego is set to honor its five graduating players — Grady Miller, Adam Lopez, Paul Kunst, Kieran Shaw, and Thomas Luevano —  before Saturday night's contest, which marks the last home game on USD's 2021 regular-season schedule.

• Grady Miller, a senior left-handed pitcher from Wenatchee, WA, played his freshman season at Portland then transferred to Central Arizona College before joining the Toreros.

• He has appeared in 38 games in a USD uniform in his three seasons in San Diego, notching 12 career starts on the mound.

• Miller will graduate with a bachelor's degree in Biology.

• Adam Lopez, a senior from San Diego, California, is in his third season with the Toreros after transferring to USD from local Southwestern College.

• He is a career .302 hitter in a San Diego uniform and has started 30 games in 2021 at third base.

• Lopez will graduate with a bachelor's degree in Sociology.

• Paul Kunst, a graduate student from Novato, California, is in his fourth official season with the Toreros.

• He joined the Toreros as a walk-on in 2016, was cut from the team, then redshirted after making the 2017 squad.

• Since then, Kunst has earned a scholarship and appeared in 187 games in a San Diego uniform, batting .288 (171-593) with nine home runs, 23 doubles, and 75 RBIs.

• Kunst earned his bachelor's degree from USD in 2019 and is now graduating with a master's degree in Non-Profit Leadership and Management.

• Kieran Shaw, a graduate student from San Jose, California, transferred to USD from Harvard, where he played three seasons and received his bachelor's degree in History & Literature.

• He has posted a 3.82 ERA in 30.2 career innings with the Toreros, and is currently tied for the WCC lead in saves with eight.

• Shaw will complete his master's degree this spring.

• Thomas Luevano, a graduate student from Santa Clarita, California, transferred to USD from Creighton, where he played his junior and senior years at Creighton as a two-year starter at shortstop.

• Prior to Creighton, Luevano spent two seasons at Moorpark College (2015-16), utilizing a redshirt in 2016 due to injury.

• He is a career .356 hitter in a Torero uniform with 12 home runs, 70 RBIs, and 24 doubles to his credit across 55 games, and his .356 batting average and 56 RBIs so far in 2021 lead the WCC.

• Luevano will graduate with a master's degree in Leadership Studies.