San Diego (18-9, 6-3 WCC)  •  Portland (17-11, 4-5 WCC)
Joe Etzel Field (1,300) • Portland, Oregon
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PORTLAND, Ore. — San Diego baseball (18-9, 6-3 WCC) will wrap up an eight-game road stretch this weekend in the Pacific Northwest, traveling to Portland (17-11, 4-5 WCC) to resume West Coast Conference play with three contests at Joe Etzel Field.

Friday night's matchup is set to get underway at 6 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. start on Saturday and a 12 p.m. first pitch in the series finale on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on the WCC Network, and live statistics will be available on PortlandPilots.com.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Toreros plated a season-high 13 runs last time out on Tuesday at UC San Diego, beating the Tritons by a 13-4 margin in La Jolla with a 13-hit barrage as they scored in six different innings to earn the win.

• Junior Catcher Caleb Ricketts led the way for USD at the plate as he continued his tear, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs, a double, a home run, and a run scored, and sophomore infielder Kevin Sim wasn't too far behind with a 3-for-5 performance, notching a double, a home run, two walks, three RBIs, and a career-high five runs scored.

• Prior to their midweek matchup with UCSD, the Toreros took one game out of three at San Francisco last weekend, beating the Dons by an 8-3 margin on Friday afternoon before dropping a pair of one-run decisions on Saturday and Sunday by scores of 6-5 and 3-2, respectively.

• USD, which tallied 12 separate multi-hit performances from its players over the weekend, held late-game leads in both losses, taking a 5-3 advantage into the seventh inning on Saturday, and a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning on Sunday.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PORTLAND
• The Toreros are 61-27 against the Pilots all-time and have won seven of their last ten matchups with Portland.

• The two teams last met in late May of 2021 as USD took two of three from the Pilots at Fowler Park. San Diego won the first two games by scores of 7-1 and 4-3 on Friday and Saturday before dropping the series' final game by a 6-2 margin on Sunday.

• USD last played at Joe Etzel Field in May of 2018, again dropping a series finale after taking the first two games.

• The Toreros are 11-4 at Portland in their last 15 games there, a stretch that dates back to May 2010.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
FRIDAY: Senior right-hander Garrett Rennie will reprise his role as the Toreros' Friday starter in game one at Portland, marking the eighth 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 San Francisco, tossing five innings while scattering five hits and surrendering three runs before he earned his second win of the season to even his record at 2-2.

• The outing, in which Rennie walked three and struck out five, marked the fifth time so far this season that he's gone five innings or more while surrendering three runs or less.

• He's gone at least five innings in all seven appearances so far this season, and has allowed three runs or less across five innings or more in six out of his seven previous starts 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 2-2 with a 2.98 ERA and 37 strikeouts  in 42.1 total innings pitched, a mark that's second to only sophomore Brycen Mautz, who has 42.2.

SATURDAY: Sophomore lefty Brycen Mautz, who leads the West Coast Conference and ranks fourth nationally in total strikeouts (69), is set to start for San Diego on Saturday afternoon at Portland

• Mautz turned in another strong start last Saturday at San Francisco, going 5.0 innings as he held the Dons to three runs on four hits, striking out nine against a single walk.

• The San Diego, California native has posted a 3.37 ERA so far this season in a team-high 42.2 innings pitched against just nine walks and leads the WCC in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.67) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.55), categories in which he's 22nd and 10th in the country, respectively.

• He has tossed at least five innings in each of his seven starts so far this season, and has surrendered three runs or less in five of those seven outings.

• 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: San Diego's Sunday starter is To Be Announced.

IN THE RANKINGS
• San Diego checked in at No. 13 in the NCAA Division I RPI this Monday, and boasts a win over the ranking's No. 2 team (Dallas Baptist, March 4).

• The team also placed at No. 26 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA Div. I Baseball Poll on Monday, marking the second consecutive week that USD has been ranked by the publication.

• The Toreros' lone previous ranking in 2022 came in late February, when San Diego landed at No. 22 in the Perfect Game Top 25.

RICKETTS IN MIDSEASON FORM
• Fresh off of his first WCC Player of the Week honor last Monday (March 28), junior catcher Caleb Ricketts has continued to shine, going 10-for-19 (.526) across three games at San Francisco and one at UC San Diego, leading the Toreros with eight RBIs, three runs scored, a double, and a home run.

• The Newport Beach, California native had a hit in all three contests in the Bay Area, going 2-for-5 on Friday with three RBIs, 1-for-5 on Saturday with a run scored and an RBI, and 3-for-4 in the series finale on Sunday with a run scored.

• He added a monstrous 4-for-5 performance at Triton Ballpark on Tuesday evening, racking up four RBIs behind a double and a home run as he came around to score a run as well.

• Ricketts is batting .352 (38-for-108) this season with eight doubles, four home runs, two triples, 18 runs scored, and 19 RBIs, and enters Friday night's action on an nine-game hit streak, a stretch that's seen him put together six multi-hit performances.

•Ricketts, who was named to the 2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Watch List on March 10, has thrown out 10 of 15 would-be base stealers so far this season, including four over the weekend at San Francisco and three on Sunday.

CONSISTENT COSTELLO KEEPS CRUSHING IT
• Sophomore utility player 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 three of the Toreros' 27 games so far in 2022.

• Costello, who has hit safely in 56 of the 70 games he has played in so far at USD and has reached base in all 27 games in 2022, kept things rolling by going 4-for-11 (.363) this week, notching two runs scored, a pair of walks, and an RBI across three games at San Francisco and one at UC San Diego.

• Since going hitless in his first two college appearances on February 21 and 27, 2021, he's been hitless just 12 times, and 29 of his 70 college games so far have resulted in a multi-hit performance, including 12 multi-hit games out of 27 total contests so far in 2022, a mark that's one game off the team lead (Chase Meidroth, 13).

• Costello, who was named a Freshman All-American (2021), an All-WCC Freshman Team  member, an All-WCC Honorable Mention (2021), and a 2022 All-WCC Preseason Team selection, is batting .339 (38-for-112) so far this season with a team-high eight doubles, three home runs, 18 RBIs, and 55 total bases.

• His .491 slugging percentage and .387 OBP place fourth among qualified USD batters, and his 10-game hit streak earlier this season is tied with Meidroth for the Toreros' season-long.

SIM STAYS HOT
• Sophomore infielder Kevin Sim continued his strong start to the 2022 season this week, going 7-for-15 (.466) across three games at San Francisco and one at UC San Diego with seven runs scored and five RBIs.

• The San Diego, California native (Torrey Pines High School) notched a hit in each of the Toreros' four contests against the Dons and Tritons, going 1-for-3 on Friday with a run scored and two RBIs, 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI on Saturday, 1-for-3 on Sunday in the series finale before going a remarkable 3-for-4 with five runs scored, three RBIs, a double, a home run, and two walks at Triton Ballpark.

• Sim, who enters Friday night's action on a season-long seven game hit streak and has recorded 10 multi-hit performances so far this season, is batting .352 (37-for-105) in 2022 with a team and conference-high 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in addition to a team-high 28 runs scored, a team-high 73 total bases, and 18 walks.

• Sim, who was named the WCC Player of the Week on March 14, leads San Diego with a .695 slugging percentage, and his .444 on-base percentage is third among qualified USD batters.

• His 10 home runs and average of .37 home runs per game rank 26th and 35th in the nation, respectively.

MEIDROTH LEADS THE WAY
• Sophomore infielder Chase Meidroth continued to shine at the top of the San Diego lineup over the weekend, going 4-for-14 (.285) with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored at San Francisco.

•Meidroth, who was selected to the 2021 Northwoods League All-Star Game last summer, is batting a team-high .369 (38-for-103) with 21 runs scored, five doubles, four home runs, 21 RBIs, and a team-leading 21 walks so far in 2022.

• He has reached base in each of his 26 games so far, is tied with Costello for the Toreros' longest hit streak so far this season (10 games), leads the team in multi-hit games (13) and boasts a team-leading .484 on-base percentage in addition to a .534 slugging percentage on the year, which among qualified San Diego batters is second only to Sim and Ricketts.

•Meidroth is one of three USD players to be named WCC Player of the Week this season (March 21).

TEIJEIRO HEATING UP
• Graduate utility player RJ Teijeiro put together a solid series against the Dons this past weekend, going 5-for-12 (.416) with three runs scored in San Francisco.

• Teijeiro, who joined the Toreros as a transfer after graduating from UCLA in three years, made his season debut late last month after missing 53 games across last season and the beginning of 2022 due to injury.

• The Foster City, California native is batting .280 (7-for-25) so far this season with a double, a home run, two walks, and four RBIs.

• On March 25, he pushed San Diego to an extra-innings win over Saint Mary's with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th, a two-run shot that marked his first college longball.

ALLEN GETTING IT DONE UP THE MIDDLE
• Sophomore centerfielder Dustin Allen had hits in all four of the Toreros' games last week, going 5-for-17 (.294) with three RBIs and two runs scored against San Francisco and UC San Diego.

• He enters Friday night's action on an eight-game hit streak, a stretch that's seen him notch two multi-hit games.

VASQUEZ CONTINUES TO SHINE IN THIRD SEASON
• Redshirt sophomore outfielder Camden Vasquez has three hits in his last three games and currently ranks second on the Toreros with a .345 batting average (20-for-58).

•Vasquez went 3-for-10 (.300) over the weekend at San Francisco, coming around to score two runs alongside a pair of walks.

ABOVE AVERAGE
• Five qualified San Diego players enter Tuesday night's action with batting averages above .300 — Meidroth (.369), Sim (.352), Ricketts (.352), Vasquez (.345), and Costello (.339).

•As a team, the Toreros aren't too far behind, batting .297 (274-for-923).

POWER SURGE
•San Diego leads the West Coast Conference with .96 home runs per game entering Friday night's action and sophomore infielder Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School) leads the team with 10 longballs, a mark that tops the conference and is 26th in the country.

GOLD GLOVES
•The Toreros' .978 team fielding percentage through 27 games so far in 2022 leads the conference and ranks 23rd in the country.

NO FREE PASSES
•USD's 3.22 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the conference and ranks 16th in the nation.

ROBINSON DOMINANT VERSUS DONS
• Redshirt junior right-hander Ryan Robinson was dominant out of the bullpen on Sunday at San Francisco, setting new career highs in both innings pitched (2.2) and strikeouts (five) as he held the Dons scoreless while allowing just one hit.

• Robinson, who leads the team in total appearances (12), has compiled a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings pitched so far this season, striking out 23 batters against six walks.

ROMERO TURNS IN SOLID OUTING AT SAN FRANCISCO
• Sophomore righty Ivran Romero also turned in a solid outing against the Dons, throwing 2.1 hitless and scoreless innings on Sunday against a single walk.

• The San Diego, California native (Poway High School) is 1-1 with an even 1.00 ERA so far in 2022, and has notched 15 strikeouts against four walks in 18.0 total innings pitched.

CHURCHILL EXCELS OUT OF THE 'PEN
• Graduate lefty Ian Churchill set a new career-high in strikeouts on Friday at San Francisco, notching seven Ks as he threw 2.2 perfect frames against the Dons in San Diego's 8-3 win.

• Churchill, who joined USD as a transfer from Arizona, struck out the side in both the eighth and the ninth inning as he helped his team secure the victory.

•For the season he's 2-2 with a 5.33 ERA in eight appearances (four starts) and 25.1 total innings pitched, and has 29 strikeouts against just five walks to his credit in 2022.

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 18-9 record so far in 2022, the Toreros are a conference-best 95-46 (.673) in that 141-game span.

•Next best within that timeframe are Gonzaga (91-58, (.610), and Saint Mary's (89-69, .563).