San Diego (0-0, 0-0 WCC)  •  Oregon (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12)

Fowler Park (1,700) • San Diego, CA

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SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball (0-0, 0-0 WCC) will begin its 2022 season on Friday night with a matchup against Oregon (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at Fowler Park, the first contest of a four-game series.

Friday night's game is set to begin at 6 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. start on Saturday, a 1 p.m. start on Sunday, and a 12 p.m. first pitch in the series finale on Monday afternoon.

All four contests will be streamed live on the WCC Network with Braden Surprenant on the call. Live statistics will be provided on USDToreros.com.


ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS OREGON
• The Toreros are 3-6 versus the Ducks all-time, with the two programs' most recent meeting coming in February of 2020, a 6-5 San Diego win at Tempe Diablo Stadium as part of the Angels College Classic.

• USD has played Oregon at Fowler Park just once before — a 7-2 San Diego victory in February of 2017.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
FRIDAY: Senior right-hander Garrett Rennie is set to make his first career start for the Toreros in Friday night's season opener.

• The Los Alamitos, California native missed the 2021 season after having Tommy John surgery and has made one career appearance in a San Diego uniform — a relief outing at No. 25 Long Beach State on February 5, 2020.

• Rennie joined USD from Long Beach City College, where he was named the 2019 South Coast Conference Pitcher/Athlete of the Year, the 2019 LBCC Pitcher of the Year, and to the 2019 First Team All-State Team.

• While at Long Beach City College in 2018 and 2019, Rennie went 14-5 with four saves, one complete game, 142.1 innings pitched, 135 strikeouts, 19 walks, a 8.54 K/9, and a 2.40 ERA.

SATURDAY: Sophomore left-hander Brycen Mautz (Westview High School) will take the mound for the Toreros in game two against the Ducks in what marks his sixth career college start.

• Mautz, a San Diego, California native, appeared in 13 games last season for USD, making five starts.

• He went 3-1 with a 4.67 ERA in 27 innings pitched, notching 26 strikeouts.

• On March 13, 2021 versus UC Riverside, the 6-3 lefty tossed five perfect innings, racking up nine strikeouts.

SUNDAY: Graduate transfer Ian Churchill is scheduled to start on Sunday versus Oregon.

• The 6-2 lefty joined the Toreros from the University of Arizona, where he won the 2021 Pac-12 Championship with the Wildcats and appeared in the Tucson NCAA Super Regional versus Ole Miss along with a College World Series outing against Stanford.

• While in Tucson he recorded 13 relief appearances and went 0-1 with an 8.56 ERA.

• Prior to Arizona, he attended Santa Barbara City College, where he was named the 2019 California Community College Athletic Association Pitcher of the Year and was tabbed as a first team All-American.

MONDAY: Redshirt freshman Ryan Kysar will start for USD in Monday's series finale in what marks his first college start.

• Kysar, a Valencia, California native, spent his freshman season at Arizona alongside Churchill, but redshirted.

UNGRICHT ERA BEGINS FOR SAN DIEGO
• Friday night's season opener versus Oregon will mark new USD head coach Brock Ungricht's first game at the helm after being promoted on July 3, 2021.

• Ungricht was elevated to head coach after spending the previous three seasons (2019-2021) as USD's assistant coach (hitting) and recruiting coordinator, helping the Toreros to a West Coast Conference-best 77-37 (.675) record in that span.

• A San Diego native, Ungricht was a Southern California Area Scout for the Saint Louis Cardinals organization in 2017 and 2018.  Prior to that, he spent six seasons at Stanford University; the final two as a full-time assistant coach under longtime Cardinal skipper Mark Marquess. 

TWO TOREROS NAMED TO ALL-WCC PRESEASON TEAM
• Sophomore outfielder/first baseman Jack Costello and junior shortstop Cody Jefferis earned 2022 preseason All-WCC Preseason Team honors and San Diego baseball was picked to finish third in the 2022 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll, the West Coast Conference announced on Wednesday afternoon.

• Costello, who was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper in 2021 after a dynamic college debut that saw him bat .338 (53-for-157) with 31 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 23 RBIs, and 77 total bases, appeared in 43 of USD's 45 games last season. The Simi Valley, California native did not record an error across 33 starts in left field and one at first base, and put together a remarkable 17 multi-hit games in addition to a 12-game hit streak in 2021. Other accolades for Costello last season included a selection to the All-WCC Freshman Team and an All-WCC Honorable mention. In late January, he was named to Perfect Game's All-WCC Preseason Team.

• Jefferis started all 45 games at shortstop for USD last season and was the only Torero to start all 45 games at one position, posting a .975 fielding percentage with 46 putouts and 112 assists. His .341 (59-173) batting average was second only to 2021 WCC Player of the Year Thomas Luevano and he recorded 11 doubles, 36 runs scored, a triple, a  home run, 32 RBIs, and 75 total bases in the 2021 season. The WCC Preseason honor is Jefferis' third after was named to the All-WCC Second Team in 2021 and to the All-WCC Freshman Team in 2019.

HOME SWEET HOME
• USD will begin its 2022 schedule with 11 consecutive home games, which marks the longest homestand to begin a season in program history and the most home contests in a row since the 2011 campaign.

• That stretch includes four matchups against Oregon (2/18-2/21), two against UNLV (2/25 and 2/27), Fresno State (2/26), three against Dallas Baptist (3/4-3-6), and one against crosstown opponent UC San Diego (3/8).

• The Toreros' first road game won't come until March 11, when San Diego travels to Phoenix, Arizona for a three-game set against Grand Canyon.

FOWLER MAGIC
• San Diego was 22-5 at Fowler Park last season, the most home wins in a single season since the venue opened in 2013.

• USD won six series at home (Fullerton, UC Riverside, Pacific, San Francisco, Pepperdine, and Portland) in 2021, and executed three sweeps (UC Riverside, Pacific, and Pepperdine).

• The Toreros notched four walk-off victories at home in 2021 (2/27 vs. Fullerton, 4/14 vs. UC Riverside, 5/2 vs. Pepperdine, and 5/8 vs. BYU), rallying for a combined 13 runs in the ninth and 10th innings of those games for comeback wins.

PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
• USD's .733 overall winning percentage in 2021 is tied for the best in program history, matching the 2008 team's .733 mark.

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 33-12 mark in 2021, the Toreros are a conference-best 77-37 (.675) in that 114-game span.

• Next best within that timeframe are Gonzaga (70-51, .578), and Saint Mary's (69-58, .543)

THE ROAD AHEAD
• Non-conference tilts for USD include home-and-home series with Cal State Fullerton (March 15 at home, April 26 on the road), crosstown rival San Diego State (April 12 at home, April 18 on the road), and UC Irvine (March 22 at home, May 3 on the road).

WEST COAST BEST COAST
• WCC play is set to begin for the Toreros on March 18 at Pepperdine. Home conference series for the Toreros include hosting Saint Mary's (3/25-3/27), Loyola Marymount (4/14-4/16), Santa Clara (4/29-5/1), and Gonzaga (5/20-5/21), which includes a Saturday doubleheader against the Bulldogs.

• Away WCC games include trips to Pepperdine (3/18-3/20), San Francisco (4/1-4/3), Portland (4/8-4/10), BYU (4/21-4/23), and Pacific (5/1-5/8).

FRESH FACES
• 11 freshman are slated to join USD in 2022 (RHP Kenny Chung, INF Justin DeCriscio, C Ariel Armas, OF Casey Cummings, RHP Morgan Lunceford, LHP Gabe Maya, INF Thomas Rollauer, and RHP Nick Suspenzi), and two transfers (RHP Ryan Kysar and LHP Ian Churchill) have been added as well, both from the University of Arizona.

THEY'RE BACK
• Twenty-two letterwinners are set to return for the Toreros, including 2021 All-WCC Second Team selection Cody Jefferis, All-WCC Honorable Mention Ryan Robinson, and Jack Costello, who was selected to the All-WCC Freshman Team and earned an All-WCC Honorable Mention in addition to being selected as a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American after a standout college debut.