San Diego (12-7, 2-1 WCC)  •  Saint Mary's (14-7, 0-3 WCC)
Fowler Park (1,700) • San Diego, CA
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SAN DIEGO — Winners of their last three contests in a row including two in conference play, San Diego baseball (12-7, 2-1 WCC) is set to host Saint Mary's (14-7, 0-3 WCC) this weekend in what marks the Toreros' first home West Coast Conference games of 2022.

The three-game series is set to begin on Friday with a 6 p.m. first pitch at Fowler Park, followed by a 5 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. matchup on Sunday in the series finale.

All three games will be streamed live on the WCC Network, and live statistics will be provided on USDToreros.com.

Braden Surprenant will work by himself on the call for Friday and Saturday night's action while Jack Cronin attends to other broadcasting obligations, and the duo will reunite on Sunday afternoon for the weekend's final game.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Toreros notched a win in an exciting non-conference matchup for the second week in a row on Tuesday, besting UC Irvine by a 6-5 margin in extra innings.

• Sophomore infielder Kevin Sim pushed USD ahead with a hard-hit three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh before true freshman infielder Justin DeCriscio answered a late-game comeback from the Anteaters with a walk-off RBI grounder in the bottom of the tenth.

• Prior to Tuesday night San Diego earned a series win on the road at Pepperdine in its first WCC games of the season, taking two of three from the Waves at Eddy D. Field Stadium with 8-1 and 6-3 victories on Saturday and Sunday (March 19 and 20) after suffering a 3-0 defeat (USD's first shutout loss of the season) on Friday (March 18).

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SAINT MARY'S
• The Toreros are 86-55-1 all-time against the Gaels, with the two programs' last meeting coming in March of 2021, a 5-4 San Diego victory in Moraga.

• USD took two out of three that weekend in what marked the Toreros' first conference games of the season.

• San Diego last hosted SMC at Fowler Park in April of 2018, dropping two of three to the Gaels after winning the series' first game.

• The Toreros are 5-4 against Saint Mary's at Fowler Park since the venue opened in 2013.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
FRIDAY: Senior right-hander Garrett Rennie will reprise his role as the Toreros' Friday night starter in game one, marking the sixth consecutive week in which the Los Alamitos, California native has began a series on the mound for USD.

• Rennie turned in a solid effort last time out at Pepperdine, tossing five innings while scattering six hits and surrendering two earned runs.

• He allowed a walk against four strikeouts on 94 pitches in what ultimately resulted in the Toreros' lone loss of the weekend as the San Diego offense was shut out for the first time in 2022.

• 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.

• For the season he's 1-2 with an even 3.00 ERA in 30.0 total innings pitched, a mark that's second to only sophomore Brycen Mautz, who has 31.0.

SATURDAY: Sophomore lefty Brycen Mautz, who leads the nation in total strikeouts (53), strikeouts per nine innings (15.39), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.60), is set to start for San Diego on Saturday night against Saint Mary's.

• Mautz turned in another dominant start last Saturday at Pepperdine as the Toreros began conference play, tossing six innings of one-run ball while walking none and striking out eight.

• His start against the Waves, which earned him his team-best fourth win of the year to move to 4-1, marked the third time in his last four starts that Mautz has pitched at least six innings while allowing one run or less.

• The San Diego, California native has posted a 3.48 ERA so far this season in a team-high 31.0 innings pitched.

• Mautz, who attended nearby Westview High School, went 3-1 with a 4.67 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched last year, including five perfect frames and nine Ks against UC Riverside in mid March.

SUNDAY: Redshirt freshman right-hander Ryan Kysar will conclude the series for San Diego on the mound, marking the Valencia, California native's fourth start and sixth overall appearance of 2022.

• Kysar threw 3.2 innings while allowing two earned runs last Sunday at Eddy D. Field Stadium, walking two against a pair of strikeouts.

• For the season he's 5-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched, notching 17 strikeouts against just seven walks.

• He joined the Toreros from the University of Arizona, where he redshirted for his true freshman season (2021).

POWER SURGE
• San Diego leads the West Coast Conference with 22 total home runs and 1.16 home runs per game through Tuesday night's action, and ranks 67th and 66th in the nation in each category, respectively.

GOLD GLOVES
• The Toreros' .982 team fielding percentage through 19 games so far in 2022 leads the conference and ranks 13th in the country.

NO FREE PASSES
• USD's 3.20 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the conference and ranks 26th in the nation, and the roster's 3.24 walks allowed per nine innings is the lowest in the WCC and the 30th best in the country.

MEIDROTH NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Sophomore infielder Chase Meidroth earned his first West Coast Conference Player of the Week honor for his dynamic performances against Cal State Fullerton and Pepperdine, the conference announced on Monday afternoon, marking the second consecutive week that a San Diego player has won the award (Kevin Sim).

• Meidroth went 9-for-18 (.500) with a double, two home runs, two walks, a stolen base, seven runs scored, and seven RBIs across matchups with the Titans (Tuesday) and the Waves (weekend series). He notched hits in all four of the Toreros' games and put together three multi-hit performances as his team went 3-1 on the week.

• The Manhattan Beach, California native went 3-for-6 with a pair of RBIs on March 15 versus the Titans as part of USD's wild 11-10 win, then kept things rolling with a single and a walk in San Diego's first game against the Waves on Friday afternoon (March 18).

• Meidroth proved to be key to the Toreros' bounce-back win on Saturday (March 19), clobbering a leadoff home run on the second pitch of the game before he added an RBI single and another run scored.

• And on Sunday (March 20) he provided the spark once again, going 3-for-4 with a key RBI double that again gave his team an early lead in addition to a late-game homer in the top of the ninth that gave USD a crucial insurance run.

• Meidroth kept his hot streak rolling on Tuesday night versus UC Irvine, notching a hit and a run scored with his team-leading 15th and 16th walks of the season.

• For the season Meidroth is batting .351 (26-for-74) with three doubles, four home runs, 16 runs scored, 16 RBIs, 41 total bases, and 16 walks.

SIM PACING SAN DIEGO OFFENSE
• Sophomore infielder Kevin Sim continued his torrid start to the season this weekend at Pepperdine, going 4-for-11 (.363) with four RBIs, two walks, a run scored, and a home run against the Waves.

• He was 1-for-3 on Friday with a walk, 2-for-5 on Saturday with a pair of RBIs, and went 1-for-3 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon with a walk and a towering two-run homer over Eddy D. Field Stadium's left-center field fence that capped a key five-run inning for the Toreros.

• And on Tuesday versus the Anteaters Sim delivered a crucial three-run homer, clobbering a line drive over Fowler Park's left field fence for his team-leading ninth home run and 26th, 27th, and 28th runs batted in of the season.

• Sim (Torrey Pines High School), who was named the WCC Player of the Week on March 14, is batting .342 (25-for-73) so far this season with four doubles and a team and conference-high nine home runs, 27 runs batted in, and 56 total bases.

•His .767 slugging percentage leads the San Diego roster and his .435 OBP ranks third.

• His nine home runs ranks 10th in the nation and is four home runs off NCAA leader Jake Gelof (Virginia)'s mark of 13 longballs.

COSTELLO KEEPS CRUSHING IT
• Sophomore Jack Costello has picked up right where he left off this season after a dynamic college debut a year ago, hitting safely in all but two of the Toreros' 19 games so far in 2022.

• Costello, who has hit safely in 49 of the 62 games he has played in so far at USD, kept things rolling with three hits in USD's road set at Pepperdine, including a 2-for-5 performance with a key RBI on Sunday after going hitless in the series' middle game.
 
• Since going hitless in his first two college appearances on February 21 and 27, 2021, he's been hitless just 11 times, and 26 of his 62 college games so far have resulted in a multi-hit performance, including nine multi-hit games out of 19 total contests so far in 2022.
• For the season he's batting .346 (28-for-81) with a team-high seven doubles, two home runs, 14 RBIs, and 41 total bases.

• His .506 slugging percentage ranks fourth among qualified USD batters and his .390 OBP is sixth.

DECRISCIO FINDING HIS STRIDE
• After an 0-for-12 start at the plate in his college debut, true freshman infielder Justin DeCriscio has turned things around as of late, going 10-for-21 (.476) in his last seven games as he's racked up four total multi-hit performances in 2022.

• He was 1-for-3 with a run scored on March 15 versus Cal State Fullerton, and was 2-for-3 in all three contests at Pepperdine this past weekend, driving in a run in the series' middle game with a clutch safety squeeze before he came around to score a run in the series finale on Sunday.

• The Orange, California native had the game-winning RBI on Tuesday night against UC Irvine, driving in junior utility player Caleb Ricketts in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Toreros rallied for their third straight victory.

• DeCriscio, who was named to the 2021 ABCA/Rawlings High School Gold Glove Team in his senior year at Orange Lutheran, has shown off impressive defensive versatility as well, starting four games at second base and seven at third.

RICKETTS HEATING UP
• Junior catcher Caleb Ricketts has seven hits in his last five games (7-for-20, .350), including three hits in each of the Toreros' last two Tuesday night matchups (3/15 vs. Cal State Fullerton and 3/22 vs. UC Irvine).

• The Newport Beach, California native was 3-for-3 against the Anteaters on Tuesday with a double and two runs scored, including the games winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

• Ricketts, who was named to the 2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award ­Watch List earlier this month, is batting .288 (21-for-73) with five doubles, a triple, three home runs, and nine runs batted in.

• His .507 slugging percentage ranks third among all qualified San Diego players.

VASQUEZ CONTINUES TO SHINE IN THIRD SEASON
• Redshirt sophomore Camden Vasquez has three hits in his last four games and leads the Toreros with a .357 batting average (15-for-42).

• Vasquez notched a trio of hits over the weekend at Pepperdine, coming up with a pair of knocks in the series' middle game on Saturday with a run scored and a walk.

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), their 33-12 mark in 2021, and their 12-7 record so far in 2022, the Toreros are a conference-best 89-44 (.669) in that 133-game span.

•Next best within that timeframe are Gonzaga (86-56, .605), and Saint Mary's (85-65, .566).