April 14, 2008
Complete Baseball Release in PDF Format 
ON DECK: The University of San Diego baseball team (27-11, 7-2 WCC) will begin the start of a eight-game home stand on Tuesday with a 3 p.m. non-conference game against No. 6 UC Irvine. The Toreros will then continue West Coast Conference play this weekend with Saint Mary's coming to town for a three-game series. Friday's game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start and both Saturday and Sunday's games will begin at 1 p.m. inside the friendly confines of Cunningham Stadium.
THE POLLS: The University of San Diego baseball team jumped up one spot in the latest Baseball America top-25 poll to No. 12, moved up seven spots in the latest Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll to No. 13 and fell six spots to No. 19 in the latest Rivals.com top-25 poll. UC Irvine enters the week ranked as high as No. 5 in both the Baseball America and Rivals.com top-25 polls and are No. 6 in the latest Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll. Saint Mary's is not ranked in any of the polls.
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS: UC Irvine enters the week with an overall record of 23-6 after taking two-of-three from Long Beach State this past weekend. UC Irvine took the meeting earlier this season, 4-0, in Irvine. The Anteaters are led offensively by Jeff Cusick, who has a team-best .388 batting average, has 38 hits, nine doubles, two triples and 17 RBI. On the mound, the Toreros are scheduled to face Christian Bergman, who had a 4-0 record and a 0.89 ERA. The Anteaters are under the direction of first-year head coach Mike Gillespie.
SCOUTING THE GAELS: Saint Mary's enters the week with an overall record of 19-13-1 and a 4-5 mark in the WCC after taking two-of-three from Loyola Marymount University this past weekend. Offensively for the Gaels, three players are hitting over .400 with Brian Hawkins leading the way hitting .439 with 25 hits, three doubles and 11 RBI. Kyle Jensen (.426) and Justin Fazio (.404) and the other two hitters batting over .400. On the mound, the Gaels turn to Brian Justice to anchor things down. On the season, Justice is 3-1 with a 3.31 ERA. The Gaels are under the direction of sixth-year head coach Jedd Soto. During his tenure in Moraga, Soto has posted an overall record of 181-164-1.
LAST TIME OUT: The Toreros posted a perfect 5-0 record this past week to run their winning streak to eight games. The Toreros began the week taking a pair of games from UC Riverside, 11-4 on Tuesday, and 7-2 on Wednesday. Then San Diego went on the road and swept the University of Portland over the weekend. In Tuesday's game, every hitter that went to the plate recorded at least one hit with Kevin Hansen leading the way going 4-for-5 with one double and one RBI and Sean Nicol went 3-for-5 with one double. In Wednesday's win over UCR, Jose Valerio led the way as he went 2-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. On Friday, the Toreros got another solid offensive output as Valerio led the way going 3-for-5 with two doubles and one RBI. Josh Romanski, Kevin Muno, Nicol, Meador and Logan Gelbrich all recorded two hits on the day for the Toreros. On Saturday, the Toreros were able to hang on to a 5-4 win with AJ Griffin picking up his second save in as many days allowing no runs on two hits while striking out two in one inning of work. Offensively for the Toreros, Meador led the way going 2-for-5 with three RBI. Gelbrich also looked impressive at the plate as he went 2-for-5 with one home run and two RBI and Nicol and Hansen recorded two hits on the day. Finally on Sunday, a hit parade propelled USD to a 13-8 win. For the fifth consecutive game, the Toreros recorded double-digit hits, as USD had 19 hits, led by Meador who went 4-for-6 with two home runs and five RBI. Victor Sanchez also looked impressive as he went 3-for-5 with one double, one home run and four RBI to run his home run total to 11 on the season.
GRIFFIN NAMED WCC CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore closer AJ Griffin of the 12th-ranked University of San Diego baseball team has been named the West Coast Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week. Griffin, a 6-5 sophomore from El Cajon, Claif., helped lead the Toreros to a 5-0 record this past week. Griffin recorded two saves this past week in consecutive games against the University of Portland. He allowed no runs to cross the plate, on four hits, while striking out five in 4.0 innings of work. On the season, Griffin has run his save total up to seven, is bolstering a 2.35 ERA and is 1-1 overall.
WHO'S HOT FOR THE TOREROS: Sophomore outfielder James Meador has been red hot as of late at the plate for the Toreros. This past week, Meador 10-for-25 (.417) with one double, one triple, two home runs and 11 RBI. In Sunday's win over Portland, Meador went 4-for-6 with two home runs and five RBI. On the season, Meador is hitting .357 with 45 hits, 10 doubles, one triple and 32 RBI. Senior Catcher Logan Gelbrich as also been red hot since conference play began. Since March 28, Gelbrich has led the team in hitting with his .478 batting average as he has gone 22-for-46 with seven doubles, five home runs and 10 RBI. On the season, Gelbrich has now moved his batting average up to .316 with 36 hits, 10 doubles, six home runs and 20 RBI.
POWER SURGE: As a team, the Toreros have now recorded 31 home runs on the season, which is 10 ahead of where the team was at this point last season and six shy of last season's total of 37. Freshman third baseman Victor Sanchez has been the catalyst for this power surge as he hit his 11th home run of the season in Sunday's blowout over Portland. But recently Logan Gelbrich has been going yard as well, recording five home runs in the last two weeks. More people adding to the party include Josh Romanski who is tied with Gelbrich for second on the team with six home runs, Jose Valerio has gone yard twice in the last two weeks and James Meador has now recorded three homes runs in the last two weeks.
HANSEN SWINGING IT WELL: This past week, senior second baseman Kevin Hansen helped lead USD's offense as he went 10-for-20 (.500) with two doubles and three RBI. Hansen has been quietly moving up the USD batting charts and now currently has a .338 batting average, with 44 hits eight doubles, one triple and 20 RBI.
GOING STREAKING: San Diego is currently riding an eight-game winning streak after going a perfect 5-0 record this past week. This is the second longest winning streak of the season, trailing only a 10-game win streak USD posed from Mar. 11 through Mar. 24 During this current eight-game winning streak, the Toreros are posting a .351 batting average and the Torero pitching staff is holding opponents to a .246 batting average. Logan Gelbrich is hitting .515 with five home runs and 10 RBI, while James Meador is hitting .429 with 15 RBI.
NO-NO FOR ROMO: Junior All-American Josh Romanski threw his first collegiate no-hitter to help guide the University of San Diego baseball team to a 12-0 win over Harvard University on March 24, 2008. Romanski faced one above the minimum in the game as he retired the first 13 batters he faced, before he hit Harvard's Matt Kramer in the top of the fifth inning. Romanski then retired the remaining 14 batters, while posting a season-high eight strikeouts in the win. The Crimson nearly broke up the no-hitter in the seventh inning on a well hit ball to the left side, but shortstop Sean Nicol dove on the ball to knock it down, then popped up and just made the throw in time to preserve the no-hitter. Romanski's no-hitter is the sixth in program history and first since March 23, 1996, when Bart Miadich no-hit Gonzaga University.
TORERO SKIPPER Rich Hill: San Diego's Rich Hill has built the USD Toreros into one of the most successful Division I baseball programs on the West Coast. The 2008 spring season will be Hill's 21st year as a head coach at the collegiate level, and 10th at USD, having enjoyed 17 winning seasons in 20 years. Since taking over at USD in 1999, Hill has been remarkable in leading the Toreros to 10 consecutive winning campaigns, rewriting the school record book en route to claiming back-to-back West Coast Conference Championship titles in 2002 and 2003 and taking the title in 2007. Under his leadership San Diego has averaged 34 wins per season, including winning a school record 43 games in 2007, a year in which Hill was honored by his peers as the WCC of the Year. In 2007, Hill led USD to its highest national ranking in program history at No. 4, as well as USD's first-ever national seed in the NCAA Regionals.
TOREROS TABBED WCC PRESEASON FAVORITES: San Diego was chosen to repeat as West Coast Conference champion in the 2008 preseason baseball poll, as selected by conference coaches. The Toreros, who have been ranked as high as No. 5 in the national preseason polls, received the maximum number of points, garnering all seven possible first place votes and 49 overall points to take first place in the listing. Pepperdine was picked second with 42 overall points, while Santa Clara received the remaining first place vote and checked in at No. 3 in the poll with 32 points. LMU edged out Gonzaga for the fourth place spot, as the Lions received 29 points and the Zags garnered 28 points to grab the No. 5 spot. San Francisco was tabbed for a sixth place finish with 24 points, while Portland and Saint Mary's were picked to finish seventh and eighth with 12 points and eight points, respectively.
THREE TOREROS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: The University of San Diego baseball team had three players named first-team preseason All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball. Junior left hander Brian Matusz was named as a pitcher, while sophomore closer AJ Griffin was selected as a first-team closer and junior utility man Josh Romanski was named to the first-team as a utility player. Matusz, who posted an overall record of 10-3 and an ERA of 2.85 and fanned 163 batters as a sophomore, was also named first-team All-American by the National College Baseball Writers Association and was also named first-team preseason All-American by Baseball America. Romanski, who posted a 9-1 record on the mound with a 3.05 ERA and hit .335 with 75 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 30 RBI, was also tabbed as a second-team All-American by Baseball America and the NCBWA.
GRIFFIN NAMED TO STOPPER OF THE YEAR WATCH: The University of San Diego baseball team's sophomore closer AJ Griffin highlights the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award watch list, along with 39 other players in Division I. The award is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. In 2007, Griffin posted an overall record of 6-2 with a team-leading 2.70 ERA and had 11 saves. He also fanned 65 batters and issued only 23 walks in 34 appearances.
2008 GAMETRACKER AVAILABLE: All of San Diego's home games, as well as select road games, can be followed via Gametracker on the Toreros athletic web site at www.usdtoreros.com. Gametracker is a service of Online College Sports, the official web provider for San Diego athletics, and is a real time update of the action.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: All USD home games, as well as select road games, will be streamed live via video on the athletics department website. Fans can watch all the action live from the comfort of their home by logging onto usdtoreros.com. Once on the home page, click the LIVE button on the top right of the page. The voice of Torero Baseball Jack Murray will be bringing fans all the live play-by-play action all season long. This service a free of charge for all who wish to watch the broadcast. This weekends games will not be streamed live on video, but there will be an audio feed for the games with Murray calling all the action.
RECRUITING CLASS RANKED NATIONS BEST: The University of San Diego baseball team's recruiting class has been tabbed as the nation's best, according to Baseball America's top-25 recruiting classes. According to Baseball America, Kyle Blair, Victor Sanchez and Matt Thomson have already proven ready to face elite college competition, as Thomson ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Alaska League this summer, while Sanchez and Blair were the top two prospects in the Northwoods League. Steve Kaupang, a former basketball player, has massive raw power. Nick Ousman is another three-pitch mix guy in the mold of USD senior Matt Couch, while Solis has lots of projection to along with a present 88-91 mph fastball and a variation of a knuckle curveball.
TOP BASEBALL PROGRAMS: San Diego was ranked No. 3 by Kendall Rogers in the Rivals Five: Top Overall College Baseball Programs in December, 2007. The Toreros have made significant strides during the past few seasons, but what they accomplished in 2007 was special. In 2005, the Toreros failed to reach the NCAA Tournament with a less than stellar 30-27 overall record. However, their luck took a turn for the better with a 33-25 finish in 2006. Not only did the Toreros finish third in the West Coast Conference, they also competed in the Fullerton Regional. In 2007, the Toreros tallied impressive non-conference series wins over Texas and Wake Forest. They also finished the year with a dominant 18-3 conference record. After making steady progress during the past two seasons, the Toreros now hope to make an even bigger statement in 2008 and beyond.
RISING ROOKIE: Kendall Rogers of Rivals.com selected the Toreros' freshman right-handed pitcher Kyle Blair as one of the nation's top freshman in 2008. Blair was a fifth-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Blair was a second-team All-American as a senior in high school and he was very impressive against experienced college hitters in the Northwoods League this past summer, going 3-3, with a 2.81 ERA, striking out 52 batters and posting 16 walks in 42 innings of work.
MATUSZ HIGHLIGHTS ROGER CLEMENS AWARD WATCH LIST: Seventy-eight of the best pitchers in collegiate baseball have been named to the preliminary watch list for the fifth annual Roger Clemens Award, and the University of San Diego's Brian Matusz highlights this list. Matusz, a preseason All-American, is off to another impressive start to the season, as he is currently 2-1 overall and in his last start against Oklahoma State, Matusz racked up his second double-digit strikeout total of 12. In 2006, Matusz set the new program record with 163 strikeouts, and he appears to be back on track to possibly break his own record.
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