SAN FRANCISCO — Fresh off a dominant sweep of Santa Clara at Fowler Park, San Diego baseball (12-18, 5-4 WCC) will travel to San Francisco this weekend for a pivotal three-game West Coast Conference series against the Dons (16-14, 7-2 WCC).

First pitch in the opener on Friday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond is set for 2:00 p.m., followed by a 1:00 p.m. start in both game two on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday afternoon.

All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+, and live statistics will be provided via StatBroadcast.

LAST WEEKEND: San Diego Sweeps Santa Clara at Fowler Park
• San Diego never trailed in a dominant three-game sweep of Santa Clara last weekend, beating the Broncos by scores of 5-1 (Thursday), 6-1 (Friday) and 13-7 (Saturday).

• Six Toreros hit .350 or higher on the weekend while USD teamed up to slug eight home runs.

• The series was also highlighted by impeccable defense for San Diego, as the Toreros posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage and zero errors across all 27 innings opposite SCU.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO
• The Toreros are 99-62 versus the Dons all-time, and have won each of the last 10 meetings between the two teams.

• USD most recently faced off with USF last season from May 2-5, 2026, when the Toreros swept the Dons by scores of 10-1, 4-2, and 9-8 at Fowler Park.

• San Diego last played at Benedetti Diamond from May 10-12, 2024, when it swept San Francisco by scores of 2-1 (13 innings), 9-0, and 7-2 to clinch the 2024 West Coast Conference Regular Season Championship.

• The Toreros clinched a share of the regular-season title with their win that Saturday (May 11), then secured the outright championship with a victory in the series finale the following day (May 12).

• San Diego last lost to San Francisco on April 3, 2022, when the Dons stunned the Toreros with a walk-off two-run homer.

ANDREW GAUNA NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Andrew Gauna has been named the WCC Player of the Week for April 6, 2026, the West Coast Conference announced on Monday afternoon.

• Gauna, a graduate outfielder, erupted for eight RBIs, three home runs, six runs scored, and two doubles in San Diego's sweep of Santa Clara this past weekend, batting a blistering .500 (6-for-12) while slugging a remarkable 1.417, getting on base at a .571 clip, and drawing two walks.

• The San Diego native homered in all three of the Toreros' games against the Broncos, launching solo shots on both Thursday and Friday night before hammering a two-run blast in the series finale on Saturday afternoon. That last game of the series saw him drive in five runs, score three more, and draw a walk as USD rolled past SCU by a 13-7 margin.

• This is USD's first weekly conference award since May 12, 2025 (Cal Scolari, WCC Freshman of the Week), and Monday marks the first time that a Torero has been named WCC Player of the Week since Jack Gurevitch earned the nod on April 21, 2025.

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 April 1.

• 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 .988 fielding percentage through 30 games this season, throwing out seven 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 .339 (42-for-124) batting average, 22 runs scored, 12 doubles, one triple, a tied-for-team-high 27 RBIs, three hit by pitches, and 10 walks.

• He is slugging a team-high .621 this year, is getting on base at a .401 clip, and is 4-for-4 stealing bases of his own.

FOR STARTERS (PROBABLE)
Friday: Graduate right-hander Nate DeSchryver (3-2, 5.64 ERA) will take the mound for San Diego on Friday afternoon in what will mark his second straight series-opening start (and his second start as a Torero after appearing 13 times out of the bullpen earlier this year).

• DeSchryver shined in his most recent outing last Thursday (April 2), throwing four hitless and scoreless innings against Santa Clara that saw him walk only two and strike out five.

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

Saturday: Graduate right-hander Diego Gutierrez (4-2, 4.76 ERA) is slated to make his eighth start of the season in Saturday afternoon's matchup with the Dons.

• Gutierrez earned his fourth win of 2026 after throwing six one-run innings versus Santa Clara in his most recent outing (Friday, April 3). He allowed only two hits against the Broncos that evening, working around six walks by striking out five.

• 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 (51) and innings pitched (39.2) so far this season.

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

• He also ranks third in the WCC in Strikeouts Per Nine Innings (11.57).

• 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 nation with 20 total hit by pitches and an average of 0.67 hit by pitches per game this season.

• He has been hit by a pitch in 16 of the 30 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.

• As a team, USD ranks first in the WCC and 40th nationally with 62 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 seven homers entering Friday's action, which is the most on the Torero roster this year.

THEY GET ON BASE
• The Toreros' .371 team on base percentage in 2026 is the second-highest mark in the WCC (Saint Mary's, .411).

SELFLESS
• Led by four from senior infielder Cade Martinez, USD ranks second in the WCC and 54th nationally with 18 sacrifice bunts so far this season.

PUSH THE TEMPO
• The Toreros lead the WCC with an average of 1.50 stolen bases per game and rank second in the league with a combined total of 45 stolen bases thus far in 2026.

TRIPLE THREAT
• San Diego's eight triples in 2026 are tied with Saint Mary's for the WCC lead.

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.