MALIBU, Calif. — San Diego baseball (8-15, 1-2 WCC) will head up the California coast to continue West Coast Conference play this weekend, traveling to Pepperdine for three games against the Waves (6-18, 2-1 WCC) at Eddy D. Field Stadium.

The series — which will consist entirely of day games — is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, followed by a 2:00 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, and a 1:00 p.m. series finale on Sunday.

All three contests will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live statistics will be provided via StatBroadcast.

LAST TIME OUT: Toreros Fall Short in Tuesday Night Slugfest at Fowler Park
• Freshman righty Caleb Sebek struck out a career-high six batters to complement homers from three different Toreros (D. Gonzalez, Springer, and Moran) on Tuesday night, but four runs from Cal State Fullerton across the game's final two innings dealt San Diego a tough 11-6 loss at Fowler Park.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PEPPERDINE
• The Toreros are 85-133 against the Waves all-time but have won 12 of the last 15 matchups between the two teams (a span that dates back to 2021).

• USD most recently faced off with Pepperdine last season from March 28 to March 30, 2025.

• San Diego bounced back from a narrow 6-5 Friday night defeat to take two of three that weekend, responding with a 10-0 mercy rule victory in seven innings on Saturday and a 6-2 win in the Sunday finale.

• The Toreros last played in Malibu from April 19 to April 21, 2024, when it swept the Waves in 11-5, 4-2, and 7-0 decisions at Eddy D. Field Stadium.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
Friday: Graduate right-hander Diego Gutierrez (2-2, 5.97 ERA) will take the mound for the Toreros on Friday afternoon in what will mark his seventh start of the season and his third on the road in 2026.

• Gutierrez, a native of Norwalk, California, spent the first four years of his college career at CSUN before transferring to USD ahead of the 2026 season.

• He leads the Toreros in both strikeouts (38) and innings pitched (28.2) so far this season.

• His 38 total strikeouts through six appearances (all starts) in 2026 ranks second in the WCC.

• He also ranks third in the WCC in Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (11.93).

• Gutierrez earned his second win of 2026 after throwing five scoreless innings against Gonzaga in his most recent outing (Friday, March 20). He scattered five hits in the Toreros' series opener with the Zags while striking out six and walking three.

• After striking out four on Opening Night at Charlotte on February 13, Gutierrez has gone on to notch six or more strikeouts in all of his outings since, including six Ks in each of his last three appearances and back-to-back eight-strikeout efforts on February 20 (versus Utah) and February 27 (versus Michigan).

• His longest and most effective start as a Torero thus far came in that Toreros' home opener against Utah. Gutierrez turned in six strong innings against the Utes, scattering four hits while allowing only two runs, walking none, and striking out eight.

Saturday: Sophomore righty Fernando Palencia (1-1, 6.86 ERA) will start for the Toreros on Saturday afternoon in what will mark his eighth appearance and second start of 2026.

• Palencia, a native of South El Monte, California, pitched in 21 games for the Toreros last season, including one start.

• He most recently pitched last Saturday (March 21) versus conference rival Gonzaga. Palencia turned in his most complete outing of 2026 that evening, throwing a tied-for-career-high four innings while scattering four hits, allowing just two earned runs, striking out four, and walking none.

• Palencia briefly faced Pepperdine as a freshman in 2025 when he tossed 0.2 perfect innings at Fowler Park (March 30)

Sunday: The Toreros' starting pitcher for Sunday afternoon's game has not yet been announced.

OUCH!
• Graduate utility player Gabe Springer leads the WCC and ranks second nationally with 17 hit by pitches and an average of 0.74 hit by pitches per game in 2026.

• He has been hit by a pitch in 13 of the 23 games he's played in this season, and was hit by a pitch in six consecutive games from February 14 to February 24.

• Springer has three multi-hit-by-pitch games to his credit in 2026, including a three-HBP performance on February 21 versus Creighton.

• He enters Friday afternoon's action having been hit by a pitch in each of his last three games.

• As a team, USD ranks first in the WCC and 19th nationally with 53 total hit by pitches in 2026.

PATIENCE PAYS OFF
• As a team, USD ranks second in the WCC with 104 total walks entering Friday afternoon's action. Only LMU (118) has drawn more.

SPRINGING FORWARD
• Springer also leads the league in on base percentage (.532), runs scored (28), and runs scored per game (1.22)

DOUBLE DOUBLE
• Both Springer and Jayden Lobliner are tied for second among all WCC players with eight doubles entering Friday afternoon's action.

• They rank fifth and fourth, respectively, in slugging percentage among WCC players.

MORE TRIPS TO LOB CITY
• It took Lobliner just 19 games to reach his home run total from 2025 — six — which was achieved across 52 games last season.

GET 'EM ON
• The Toreros' .377 team on base percentage in 2026 is the second-highest mark in the WCC (Saint Mary's, .417)

GET 'EM OVER
• Led by four from senior infielder Cade Martinez, USD ranks second in the WCC and 39th nationally with 15 sacrifice bunts so far this season.

AND GET 'EM IN
• San Diego has scored the third-most runs (136) of any WCC team thus far in 2026, and ranks third among WCC teams in runs scored per game (5.9).