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THIS WEEK: USF faces off against No. 1 UCLA for the first time in school history. The Bruins and Dons will play a three-game series in Los Angeles, starting with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday, Feb. 18. Game two is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19 with the final game taking place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20. USF will then travel to Cal State Bakersfield for a single game on Monday, Feb. 21 with the first pitch set for 2 p.m.
LOOKING AHEAD: Next week for the Dons features a three-game series against UC Davis with games in San Francisco and Davis. The series begins on the Hilltop with a 2 p.m. game on Friday. Feb 25, which will serve as USF's home opener. The teams will travel to Davis for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 26 and return to San Francisco for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday, Feb. 27.
LIVE STATS/RADIO: Fans can visit uclabruins.com for live stats via gametracker for USF's series against UCLA and gorunners.com for live stats via gametracker for the Dons' game at Cal State Bakersfield. Visit http://sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast/teams/saf to listen to the Don's live radio broadcast from UCLA and Bakersfield.
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN: The last time San Francisco took on the No. 1 team in the country was during the 2001 season. The Dons beat then No. 1 Stanford 5-4, earning their first win against the Cardinal since 1996. Jesse Foppert was credited with the save and David Seccombe earned the win.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS: After finishing the 2010 season as the NCAA runner-up and returning it's two aces on the mound, it is no surprise that UCLA is one of the top ranked teams in the country. Junior right-handed pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer are considered by many to be the top two pitchers in the country, giving the Bruins one of the most intimidating rotations in the nation. Cole went 11-4 last year and was third in the country with 153 strikeouts. Bauer finished 12-3 and led the nation in strikeouts with 165. Baseball American considers Cole and Bauer the No. 2 and No. 12 best collegiate baseball players eligible for the 2011 draft. UCLA had 11 players drafted in the 2010 Major League Amateur Draft. The Bruins return six starting position players.
LAST TIME VS. USF: This is the first meeting between the two programs.
SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS: This is the third season for the baseball program at Cal State Bakersfield. The Roadrunners won 26 games last season — 13 more than they had in their first season. CSU-Bakersfield is playing as an independent right now, with no conference affiliation and will play teams from 11 different conferences this season. The Roadrunners return 13 of their 27 letter winners from last season.
LAST TIME VS. USF: The Dons and Roadrunners played on March 9th and 10th last season with USF winning 3-0 and 2-0. Alex Kalogrides was the Dons' winning pitcher in the first game with Jordan Remer getting credit for the second game win.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Boyd's World, a national collegiate baseball website, ranks the Dons' non-conference schedule as the seventh most difficult in the country. It lists USF's overall schedule as 24th toughest in the nation.
CLOSE TO HOME: USF plays 22 of its 55 games at Bendetti Diamond this season, with another seven games taking place at neutral sites. The Dons will play 31 of their 55 games within 84 miles of the USF campus. Four of the team's games will take place at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
DANTE BENEDETTI CLASSIC: San Francisco will hold the sixth annual Dante Benedetti Classic at AT&T Park on Tuesday, March 15th against San Jose State. The first pitch is set for 12:20 p.m. with the Saint Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral game to start approximately 30 minutes afterward. USF is 4-1 in Benedetti Classic games.
PRESEASON HONORS: Senior third baseman Stephen Yarrow was named a Preseason All-West Coast Conference selection. Yarrow, was a first-team All-WCC pick last spring after leading the league in home runs with 16. He hit .310 with 46 RBIs, 12 doubles and a .635 slugging percentage.
DONS PICKED TO FINISH THIRD IN WCC: The Dons were picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference's preseason coaches' poll. The league coaches unanimously picked San Diego to repeat as WCC Champions. They predicted Pepperdine to come in second, with USF was six points behind and Portland one point behind in fourth. USF hosts homestands against Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine and goes on the road for series at Gonzaga, Portland and San Diego.
POWERING UP: Senior third baseman Stephen Yarrow enters the 2011 season in the top 10 in home runs, extra base hits and putouts in USF history. He needs just six home runs to become second all-time and needs just four triples to become the school's all-time leader. Four more RBIs will put Yarrow in the top 10 in that category as well.
CHART TOPPER: Senior pitcher Matt Lujan is just five victories away from becoming the school's all-time wins leader. The left–handed pitcher has won 18 games in his three years on the Hilltop. Lujan is also nine starts away from starting the most games in USF history.
TIME ON THE MOUND: Senior left-handed pitcher Garrett Luippold enters the 2011 season needing just nine more appearances to become the Dons' all-time appearances leader. He has pitched in 79 games for the green and gold.
RECORD-SETTING SKIPPER: Head coach Nino Giarratano enters the 2011 season just 14 wins away from collecting his 350th victory at USF. Another 13 West Coast Conference wins would give Giarratano the seventh most league wins in WCC history.
2010 DRAFT: Four USF players were selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft: Doug Murrary (19th round by Chicago White Sox), Ryan Lipkin (24th round, Oakland Athletics), Derek Poppert (30th round, Seattle Mariners) and Matt Chavez (44th round, Chicago White Sox). Murrary, Lipkin and Poppert all graduated from USF that spring, but Chavez elected to return to school and play for the Dons.
PRIDE IN YOUR COUNTRY: USF head coach Nino Giarratano spent his summer coaching for the United States Collegiate National Team. The team competed in Japan and Taiwan and finished with a silver medal at the FISU World Championships. Giarratano also helped coach Team USA to a gold medal during the summer of 2008.
MOORE RETURNS HOME: After a one-year absence, Greg Moore re-joined the Dons' coaching staff. Moore coached at USF for eight seasons before spending the 2010 season coaching at the University of Washington. Moore, who also pitched at USF, was named Associate Head Coach upon his return and signed a multi-year contract.
THE HONOR ROLL: This fall marked an exciting time for USF head coach Nino Giarratano, who was inducted into two Hall of Fames and was named the Northern California Scouts Association Division I Coach of the Year. Giarratano was inducted into the Pueblo South High School Hall of Fame and the Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame.
HOME RUNS FOR HEALTH CAMPAIGN: Junior pitcher/outfielder Bob Mott and teammates Cameron Love, Nik Balog and Jared Denham put together a fundraising campaign for the Nothing But Nets Foundation, which raises money to buy malaria nets for families in Africa. For each home run USF hits this season, the Dons plan to donate a malaria net to the Nothing But Nets Foundation. Each nets costs $10. Please visit nothingbutnets.net and search for the USF team page to donate and help the Dons' raise money for this cause.
MAKING THE GRADE: The USF baseball team posted the highest cumulative team GPA in a semester in program history with a 3.26 during the fall of 2010. The previous record of 3.25 was set two years ago. An impressive 62 percent of the team earned a 3.0 or higher, with 97 percent of the team earning a 2.5 or higher. Five USF baseball players were also named to the West Coast Conference's All-Academic team last spring.
