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THIS WEEK: San Francisco travels to Beaumont, Texas to play four games in the Cardinal Classic, hosted by Lamar University. USF opens the tournament with a 4:30 p.m. game on Thursday, March 3 against host Lamar. The Dons play New Mexico State on Friday and Saturday March 4 & 5 at 11 a.m. and 9 a.m., respectively. San Francisco will play again on Saturday afternoon, facing off against Cal State Northridge at 4 p.m. The Dons then host Sacramento State on Tuesday, March 8 with a 1:30 p.m. first pitch scheduled.
LOOKING AHEAD: USF will play three games in the AT&T Tournament, hosted by California at AT&T Park, with the Dons opening the tournament against UC Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 11. San Francisco plays game two against Long Beach State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 and closes the tournament at 9 a.m. on March 13 against Louisiana-Lafayette.
LOOKING BACK: The Dons won their first series of the season against UC Davis by winning games two and three by scores of 6-2 and 8-4. Davis prevailed in game one, 4-2.
LIVE RADIO: Fans can visit http://sports.yahoo.com/top/collegebroadcast/teams/saf to listen to this weekend's games at the Cardinal Classic. Tuesday's game against Sacramento State will be live streamed at the same website.
SAVE THAT GAME BALL: Two USF pitchers earned their first collegiate wins on the mound against UC Davis. Sophomore right-hander Kyle Zimmer earned his victory in game one of the doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 27 after pitching seven innings and giving up just two runs on six hits, while striking out eight. Later that afternoon, freshman right-hander Alex Balog was a winner after throwing a hitless seventh inning.
SPORTSCENTER WORTHY: Two plays after being inserted as a defensive replacement in leftfield during the first game of the doubleheader against UC Davis, Graeme Agate wowed the crowd with his speed and athleticism. The junior sprinted into left center to make a diving catch that amazed fans from both teams.
MOVIN' ON UP: Senior third baseman Stephen Yarrow cracked USF's top 10 all-time RBI list after collecting three RBIs in the Dons' 8-4 win against UC Davis. He has totaled 106 thus far in his career and needs just 18 more to move into the top five all-time.
KEEPING UP HIS APPEARANCES: Senior left-handed pitcher Garrett Luippold's trip to the mound in Saturday's game against UC Davis moved him into a tie for third place in all-time appearances in USF baseball program history. He needs just eight more appearances to become the all-time leader.
WINDY CITY WIZARD: After two weeks of play, junior designed hitter Tom Barry is among the top 10 in batting averages for players in the West Coast Conference with at least 10 at bats. Barry is hitting .444 and only two WCC players have logged more at bats.
SNEAKY THIEF: Senior Pete Lavin and Santa Clara's Matt Ozanne lead the West Coast Conference in stolen bases with five a piece. Lavin totaled a team-high 16 stolen bases last season.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Lamar is coming off a season in which it advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the fourth time in the past nine seasons after winning the Southland Conference. Head coach Jim Gilligan is entering his 35th year with the Cardinals, having totaled 1,167 victories. Gilligan has his entire infield returning intact, along with two starting outfielders. The Cardinals already have a win against a top-25 team after beating Rice 12-7. Junior outfielder Kevin Roebuck and senior infielder Wade Mathis pace Lamar's offense with .333 batting averages.
LAST TIME VS. LAMAR: This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES: New Mexico State is off to an undefeated start after returning three of its four starting pitchers from last season. More importantly, however, the Aggies return much of their offensive firepower from a team that ranked among the nation's leaders in almost every offensive category. New Mexico State finished the season ranked No. 1 in the country in runs, No. 4 in homeruns, slugging percentage and hits and No. 5 in batting average.
LAST TIME VS. NEW MEXICO STATE: The Dons played a four-game series at New Mexico State on March 20-22, 2009. USF went 1-3 in four high-scoring contests by scores of 12-24, 20-15, 6-10 and 6-11.
SCOUTING THE MATADORS: Cal State Northridge begins a new era under first year coach Matt Curtis (a Fresno State graduate). Curtis returns five starting position players and 11 pitchers from last year's team that posted the program's first winning season since 2002. The Cardinal Classic is the first time that the Matadors will play on the road this season. Sophomore catcher Marty Bowen has been the team's offensive spark early in the season, putting up a .583 batting average.
LAST TIME VS. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: The two teams last met for a three-game series on Feb 1-3, 2002. The then No.22 Matadors swept the series 10-6, 13-12 and 16-9.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS: Sacramento State said good-bye to head coach John Smith this summer, after Smith retired following 32 years at the helm of the program. First-year coach Reggie Christiansen has 17 newcomers on his squad this year and is set to use an all-freshman rotation early in the season. The Hornets were picked to finish last in the Western Athletic Conference.
LAST TIME VS. SACRAMENTO STATE: The Dons beat the Hornets 5-4 in 11 innings on April 7, 2010 at Benedetti Diamond.
