SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball (13-21, 6-6 WCC) is back in America's Finest City this weekend after five straight road contests, returning home to host Seattle U (12-19, 7-5 WCC) at Fowler Park and Cunningham Field for a three-game West Coast Conference series.

First pitch in the opener on Friday night is set for 6:00 p.m., followed by a 5:00 p.m. start on Saturday evening and a 1:00 p.m. finale on Sunday afternoon.

All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Braden Surprenant (play-by-play) and Mike Gosling (analyst) on the call. Live statistics will be provided via StatBroadcast.

LAST WEEKEND
• The Toreros won their series opener against the Dons last Friday by a score of 9-2 but dropped the final two games of the series by scores of 7-5 and 6-1 at Benedetti Diamond.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SEATTLE U
• The Toreros are 1-0 against the Redhawks all-time, with the lone previous meeting between the two teams being a 6-2 San Diego win on February 22, 2020 at Fowler Park and Cunningham Field.

• This weekend's series will mark the first between USD and Seattle U since the Redhawks joined the West Coast Conference ahead of the 2025-2026 season.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
Friday: Graduate right-hander Nate DeSchryver (3-2, 5.13 ERA) will take the mound for San Diego on Friday night in what will mark his third straight series-opening start (and his third start as a Torero after appearing 13 times out of the bullpen earlier this year).

• DeSchryver shined in his most recent outing last Friday (April 10), throwing four one-run innings at San Francisco that saw him scatter three hits, walk only one, and strike out seven.

• A native of Silverdale, Washington, DeSchryver spent the first three seasons of his college career (2022-2024) at Gonzaga before being named to the 2025 All-America East First Team at NJIT a year ago.

Saturday: Graduate right-hander Diego Gutierrez (4-2, 5.40 ERA) is slated to make his ninth start of the season in Saturday evening's matchup with the Redhawks.

• Gutierrez allowed five runs on four hits across 3.2 innings in his most recent start, which came last Saturday (April 11) at San Francisco. He walked three and struck out six against the Dons.

• A native of Norwalk, California, Gutierrez 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 (57) and innings pitched (43.1) so far this season.

• Gutierrez also ranks second in the WCC in Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (11.84), and his 57 total strikeouts through eight appearances (all starts) in 2026 is the fourth-most among WCC players.

• 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 the 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.

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

OUCH!
• Graduate utility player Gabe Springer leads the WCC and ranks fourth nationally with 21 hit by pitches thus far in 2026.

• His average of 0.64 hit by pitches per game also leads the league and is the fifth-highest mark in the country.  

• Springer has been hit by a pitch in 16 of the 33 games he's played in this season.

• He 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.

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

• As a team, USD ranks first in the WCC and 41st nationally with 68 total hit by pitches in 2026.

MORE TRIPS TO LOB CITY
• It took senior catcher Jayden 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 eight homers entering Friday night's action, which is the most on the Torero roster this year.

GRAND THEFT BASEBALL
• The Toreros rank second in the WCC with 49 stolen bases and an average of 1.44 stolen bases per game in 2026.

TRIPLE THREAT
• San Diego leads the WCC in triples (nine), triples per game (0.26), and triple plays (one).