SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball is set to make its 2026 home debut this weekend, hosting the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament at Fowler Park and Cunningham Field. The Toreros (3-1, 0-0 WCC) have won two straight games entering the event, capped by an 11-inning road victory over Long Beach State on February 17, and now turn their attention to a loaded three-game weekend slate against Power Four competition.
USD will open the tournament on Friday, February 20 by hosting Utah (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) at 6 p.m., then will welcome Creighton (2-1, 0-0 Big East) on Saturday, February 21 at 5 p.m.
The Toreros will close the weekend on Sunday, February 22 with a crosstown rivalry matchup at nearby San Diego State (3-1, 0-0 Mountain West), with first pitch set for 4 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Braden Surprenant (play-by-play) and Mike Gosling (analyst) will have the call for Friday and Saturday's games on ESPN+, with David Gentile on the call Sunday on the Mountain West Network. Live statistics will be available on StatBroadcast.
LAST TIME OUT: TOREROS WIN WILD ONE IN EXTRAS AT LONG BEACH STATE
San Diego rallied from a 2-0 deficit to outlast Long Beach State, 6-3, in 11 innings at Blair Field on Tuesday, February 17. The Toreros did not score until the seventh inning, when
Jayden Lobliner — the reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Year — launched a solo home run over the center field wall to get USD on the board.
Aden Howard then gave the Toreros their first lead of the game in the eighth, lacing a two-RBI double off the second base bag to score
Andrew Gauna and
Tanner Kern and make it 3-2.
Long Beach State tied the game in the ninth, but
Nate DeSchryver held the Dirtbags scoreless to earn his first win in a Torero uniform. A game-saving diving catch by
Gabe Springer to end the 10th — with the winning run 90 feet away — kept USD alive and swung the momentum.
In the 11th,
Connor Meidroth singled and stole his way into scoring position before a Long Beach error on a slow ground ball by Gauna scored two, and a misplayed fly ball off the bat of
Cade Martinez plated a third to give San Diego a 6-3 cushion.
Caleb Sebek came on in the bottom of the 11th and worked around an error and a walk, retiring three Long Beach State batters to lock up his first collegiate save.
FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
FRIDAY — Diego Gutierrez | RHP | Graduate | Norwalk, CA | Lakewood HS / CSUN
• Graduate right-hander
Diego Gutierrez will take the mound for the Toreros in their 2026 home opener, making his second start of the season after a strong debut at Charlotte last Friday.
• Gutierrez threw four innings in that outing, allowing two runs on one hit while striking out four and walking three. After surrendering both runs on a first-inning home run, he settled in to retire the 49ers in order across his final three innings of work.
• Gutierrez arrives at USD after five seasons at CSUN, where he accumulated 160.1 career innings and 132 strikeouts across 46 total appearances.
• He posted a career-best 73 strikeouts in 73.1 innings during the 2025 season, his most productive campaign on the mound and one in which he led the CSUN staff in punchouts.
• His finest single-game performance in 2025 came against Cal State Fullerton (April 5), when he struck out a career-high 10 batters in 6.2 innings.
• Gutierrez also displayed durability and the ability to work deep into games, going a career-long seven innings against UC San Diego (April 12).
• As a true freshman in 2022, he showed immediate promise with a 3-1 record and a 2.92 ERA across 16 appearances and 49.1 innings.
SATURDAY — Kyle Bade | RHP | Junior | Plano, TX | Plano Senior HS / Oklahoma State
• Junior right-hander
Kyle Bade will make his second start of the season Saturday, coming off a debut in Game 2 of the doubleheader at Charlotte in which he tossed four innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits and a walk while striking out four.
• Bade arrives at USD after two seasons pitching in the Big 12 at Oklahoma State, bringing Power Four experience to the Torero rotation in 2026.
• He earned Academic All-Big 12 honors at Oklahoma State in 2025.
• Bade was a standout prep arm at Plano Senior High School in Texas, where he was a three-time first-team all-district performer. As a senior he went 6-3 with a 1.07 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 59 innings, earning All-Area Second Team honors from the Dallas Morning News.
SUNDAY — Drake Frize | RHP | Grad. Student | Orange, CA | Orange Lutheran HS
• Graduate right-hander
Drake Frize will make his second appearance of the season Sunday, continuing his comeback from 652 days away from the mound after a four-inning return in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader at Charlotte.
• In that outing, Frize retired the 49ers in order in the first inning, then worked back to finish on a high note, retiring Charlotte in order again in the fourth, striking out two on 71 pitches.
• He last pitched competitively in 2024, when he posted a 3-1 record and a 2.38 ERA across 18 appearances and 22.2 innings while striking out 41, walking just nine, and holding opposing batters to a .158 average.
• He also notched a pair of saves that season and was a key piece of the Toreros' bullpen on their run to both the 2024 WCC Regular Season and Tournament championships.
• Frize was selected in the 17th round (524th overall) of the 2024 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks but chose to return to USD to rehab his arm injury and pursue a graduate certificate in Coaching and Leadership Studies.
• He earned undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Real Estate from USD in 2024 and will be pitching for the Toreros for the final time this spring.
• A product of Orange Lutheran High School, Frize was part of back-to-back Trinity League Championships (2018 and 2019) and back-to-back National High School Invitational Championships.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST UTAH, CREIGHTON, AND SDSU
UTAH:
• The Toreros are 11-7 against Utah all-time, and most recently took on the Utes back on February 24, 2019, when USD came up on the wrong side of a narrow 6-5 loss at Fowler Park and Cunningham Field, also as part of the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament.
CREIGHTON:
• San Diego and Creighton have met just once before: back on June 2, 2012, when Kris Bryant and the Toreros lost an 8-2 decision to the Blue Jays in an elimination game at the NCAA UCLA Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
SAN DIEGO STATE
• The Toreros are 63-78-2 against the Aztecs all-time, but have won eight of the last 10 matchups between the two teams dating back to 2021.
• San Diego and San Diego State split its matchups in 2025, with SDSU claiming the first meeting by a 10-4 margin at Tony Gwynn Stadium (February 25) before USD prevailed 8-6 at Fowler Park (April 21) in the second and final clash between the two teams last year.
• USD last won at Tony Gwynn Stadium back in April 2024, when it dealt the Aztecs an 11-2 defeat.
• San Diego has outscored San Diego State by a 34-8 margin at Tony Gwynn Stadium across its last four matchups at the venue since 2022.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Adrian Beltre Jr. | INF | Sophomore | Bradbury, CA | Maranatha HS
• Beltre leads the Toreros with a .455 batting average and a .600 on-base percentage through three starts, going 5-for-11 with four RBI and three runs scored.
• He opened the season with a 3-for-4 performance on Opening Day at Charlotte (Feb. 13), his third career three-hit game, including a two-run single through the left side with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to break the game open. He also drew two walks and scored twice in the 7-4 USD win.
• After going 0-for-2 in the doubleheader opener (Feb. 14, Game 1), Beltre bounced back with a 2-for-5 effort in the series finale, driving in two more runs with an infield hit in the fifth inning of USD's 14-4 win.
• Beltre did not appear in USD's 6-3 extra-inning win over Long Beach State on Feb. 17.
Aden Howard | OF | Sophomore | Carrollton, TX | Hebron HS / Dallas Baptist
• Howard leads the Toreros with five runs scored and five RBI through four games, batting .316 (6-for-19). He has reached base safely in all four contests and is 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts.
• He scored the Toreros' first run of 2026 on Opening Day (Feb. 13), driving in a run with a first-inning single through the left side at Charlotte. He added a hit by pitch, a stolen base, and two runs scored in the 7-4 win.
• Howard delivered the biggest offensive performance of the opening series in the Feb. 14 finale, going 3-for-6 with two triples and two RBI while scoring three runs in USD's 14-4 victory.
• Against Long Beach State (Feb. 17), he went 1-for-6 with a two-RBI double in the eighth inning, scoring Gauna and Kern, and added a stolen base in the 6-3 win.
Jayden Lobliner | C | Senior | St. Charles, IL | St. Charles North HS / Kansas State
• The WCC Preseason Team honoree is batting .294 (5-for-17) with a home run, five RBI, and a perfect 2-for-2 mark on stolen base attempts through four games.
• Lobliner was held in check in the first two games at Charlotte — going 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base on Opening Day, and 0-for-3 in the doubleheader opener.
• He broke out in the series finale (Feb. 14, Game 2), going 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and a bases-clearing double for four total RBI in USD's 14-4 win. He also added his second stolen base of the series.
• Against Long Beach State (Feb. 17), Lobliner continued his production, going 2-for-5 with a home run and an RBI in the 6-3 win.
Gabe Springer | INF | Graduate | Boulder, CO | Fairview HS / Stanford
• The Stanford transfer owns the team's highest slugging percentage at .615, going 3-for-13 with two doubles, a home run, and three RBI through four games while posting a .500 on-base percentage.
• Springer drove in a run with an RBI double down the right-field line on Opening Day (Feb. 13), scoring Beltre in the second inning of USD's 7-4 win. He was hit by a pitch twice in that game.
• After going 1-for-3 with a double in the doubleheader opener loss, he homered and drove in two runs in the series finale (Feb. 14, Game 2), drawing two walks and a hit by pitch while scoring twice in the 14-4 win.
• Against Long Beach State (Feb. 17), Springer went 0-for-3 but drew a walk and was hit by a pitch, scoring one of USD's six runs in the 6-3 win.
