SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball is back home this weekend, hosting Santa Clara for a three-game West Coast Conference series at Fowler Park and Cunningham Field.

The Toreros (9-17, 2-4 WCC) will take on the Broncos (13-14, 3-3 WCC) beginning on Thursday at 6:00 p.m., followed by another 6:00 p.m. matchup on Friday night, and a 1:00 p.m. series finale on Saturday.

All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Julian Del Gaudio (Play-by-Play) and Mike Gosling (Analyst) on the call. Live statistics will be provided via StatBroadcast.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SANTA CLARA
• The Toreros are 78-66 against the Broncos all-time, and have won five of their last six games against SCU dating back to May 2024.

• USD most recently faced Santa Clara last season on May 11, 2025, when it rolled past the Broncos by a remarkable 25-9 margin in a seven-inning mercy-rule victory at Stephen Schott Stadium. San Diego ultimately won two of three games in the Bay Area that weekend.

• Santa Clara most recently traveled to Fowler Park and Cunningham Field from May 3-5, 2024. The Toreros swept that series after prevailing by scores of 6-5 (13 innings), 2-0, and 14-4.

• San Diego has not lost to Santa Clara at Fowler Park since May 1, 2022, when it dropped a narrow 3-2 defeat to the Broncos in a Sunday series finale.

LAST TIME OUT: Toreros Win One of Three at Pepperdine
• San Diego beat Pepperdine 5-1 on Friday afternoon behind a strong start from Diego Gutierrez but fell in the following two games at Eddy D. Field Stadium, dropping 3-0 and 7-4 decisions to the Waves.

LOBLINER NAMED TO 2026 BUSTER POSEY AWARD MIDSEASON WATCHLIST
• Jayden Lobliner is one of 50 catchers who have been selected for the 2026 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Midseason Watchlist, the Wichita Sports Commission announced on Wednesday morning.

• Lobliner, who was named the 2025 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and to the 2025 All-WCC Second Team, has posted a .987 fielding percentage through 26 games this season, throwing out six would-be base stealers while allowing just three passed balls and committing only three errors.

• At the plate, Lobliner has been one of the Toreros' most consistent and powerful bats, already surpassing his 2025 home run total with seven longballs thus far in 2026 to go with a .330 (35-for-106) batting average, 20 runs scored, eight doubles, one triple, a team-high 24 RBIs, three hit by pitches, and 10 walks.

• He is slugging .623 this year, is getting on base at a .403 clip, and is 4-for-4 stealing bases of his own.

POTENTIAL STARTING PITCHERS FOR THE WEEKEND
San Diego has not announced a pitching rotation for this weekend's series against Santa Clara. Potential options for starting pitchers against the Broncos are listed below.

Graduate right-hander Diego Gutierrez (3-2, 5.35 ERA) has made seven starts for the Toreros in 2026, including four at Fowler Park.

• 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 (46) and innings pitched (33.2) so far this season.

• His 46 total strikeouts through seven appearances (all starts) in 2026 ranks second in the WCC.

• He also ranks second in the WCC in Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (12.30).

• Gutierrez earned his third win of 2026 after throwing five innings at Pepperdine in his most recent outing (Friday, March 27). He allowed only one run and scattered three hits in the Toreros' series opener with the Waves while striking out eight 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 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.

Sophomore righty Fernando Palencia (1-2, 6.65 ERA) started for the Toreros last Saturday at Pepperdine. He has appeared in eight games and made three starts thus far in 2026.

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

• He allowed two runs on five hits across 3.1 innings while striking out two and walking two against the Waves last Saturday at Eddy D. Field Stadium

• Palencia turned in his most complete outing of 2026 thus far against Gonzaga on March 21, throwing a tied-for-career-high four innings while scattering four hits, allowing just two earned runs, striking out four, and walking none.

• He did not pitch against Santa Clara as a freshman in 2025.

OUCH!
• Graduate utility player Gabe Springer leads the nation with an average of 0.73 hit by pitches per game this season.

• In total, he has been hit by 19 pitches thus far in 2026, which ranks second nationally.

• He has been hit by a pitch in 15 of the 26 games he's played in this season.

• Springer was hit by a pitch in six consecutive games from February 14 to February 24, 2026  and drew a HBP in five straight contests from March 21 to March 28, 2026.

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

• Springer enters Friday afternoon's action having been hit by a pitch in five of his last six games.

• As a team, USD ranks first in the WCC and 37th nationally with 56 total hit by pitches in 2026.

SPRINGING FORWARD
• Springer also leads the WCC in runs scored per game (1.12), and ranks third in on-base percentage (.496).

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.

• He now has a career-high seven homers entering Friday night's action.

THEY GET ON BASE
• The Toreros' .367 team on base percentage in 2026 is the second-highest mark in the WCC (Saint Mary's, .406)

SELFLESS
• Led by four from senior infielder Cade Martinez, USD ranks second in the WCC and 54th nationally with 16 sacrifice bunts so far this season.

READY TO DEFEND THEIR CROWN
• San Diego enters the 2026 season having won each of the last two WCC Regular-Season Championships after hoisting the league trophy in both 2024 and 2025.

• The Toreros won 19 of their final 24 contests in 2025, a stretch that included a 19-5 mark in league games.

• USD swept four of its eight WCC series in 2025 and outscored conference opponents 204-106 last season.

IN IT TO WIN IT
• San Diego was selected as the favorite to win the 2026 West Coast Conference Baseball championship in the Conference's annual preseason coaches' poll, the WCC announced on January 21. The poll and preseason all-conference team were selected solely by a vote of the conference's 10 head coaches.

• USD claimed five of the 10 available first-place votes for a total of 77 points, edging second-place Gonzaga (four first-place votes, 73 points) and third-place Saint Mary's (one first-place vote, 67 points).

• It marks the second consecutive year that USD has been selected as the WCC's preseason favorite, after claiming the top spot in the 2025 poll as well. San Diego has now been picked first in the WCC preseason coaches' poll in 2016, 2017, 2025, and 2026.