University of San Francisco Athletics

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Games No. 12-14
Friday's opponent: No. 27 Arkansas (7-2, 0-0 SEC), 2:30 p.m.
Saturday's opponent: California (8-3, Pac-12 0-0), 6 p.m.
Sunday's opponent: Tulane (8-3, 2-1 C-USA), 11 a.m.
 
Location: Game 1, 2: Evans Diamond (Berkeley, Calif.), Game 3: Benedetti Diamond
Broadcast: USFDons.com/LIVE (Play-by-Play: Max Harris), no broadcast Saturday, Sunday

2014 SCHEDULE
2014 ROSTER
 
GAME NOTES - CAL BASEBALL CLASSIC

SAN FRANCISCO—The Dons claimed their first series victory last weekend over Sacramento State and now move onto one of the toughest weekends on the schedule when they play in the Cal Baseball Classic, beginning on Friday.
 
San Francisco (5-6) will play No. 27 Arkansas on Friday before playing host California on Saturday. The Dons will play Tulane on Sunday back at Benedetti Diamond for the weekend finale.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Friday: Abe Bobb (1-1, 4.95 ERA)
Saturday: Christian Cecilio (1-2, 4.86)
Sunday: Grant Goodman (0-1, 7.88)
 
LAST TIME OUT
USF put up 20 runs against Sacramento State in the three games and on Sunday put together their second come-from-behind victory of the season. After falling behind 5-0, the Dons scored nine runs in a three-inning span to take its first lead of the afternoon.
 
Last week's WCC Pitcher of the Week, Houston Hibberd, picked up the win after going three scoreless innings.
 
WCC RAWLINGS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Bradley Zimmer claimed his first in-season award when he was named the WCC Rawlings Player of the Week on Monday. He hit a scorching .571 in the three-game series win over Sacramento State with a home run, six RBI and three stolen bases. Zimmer is now hitting a best-best .420 on the season.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Dons played at Benedetti Diamond for only the second and third times all season when they hosted the double header against Sacramento State. They are in a stretch where they will play 14 of 17 games at home. This includes conference matchups with Gonzaga, BYU and San Diego along with a nonconference visit from one of the Dons' NCAA Regional opponents last season, Oregon.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Bradley Zimmer was named to three All-America first teams in the preseason, including the Louisville Slugger and Baseball America teams. The junior hit .320 with seven home runs and 37 RBI last season and went onto play for the USA National Collegiate Team and Cotuit Keetleers of the Cape Cod League over the summer.
 
GIARRATANO LEGACY
Head coach Nino Giarratano enters his 16th season at the helm of the USF baseball team and is the winningest coach in the program's history with 438. He is also the third winningest coach in WCC history, behind John Cunningham (USD, 524) and current San Diego coach Rich Hill (657). With the win over Kansas State on Feb. 18, Giarratano passed Santa Clara's John Oldman for third on that list (433).
 
ABOUT NO. 27 ARKANSAS
The Razorbacks have a potent lineup and have three players with 10 or more RBI to this stage. Tyler Spoon leads the squad with 12 RBI and carries a .500 slugging percentage. On the mound is Jalen Beeks, who has won each of his first three starts and has a 0.51 ERA in 17.2 innings.
 
ABOUT CALIFORNIA
The Dons are no strangers to their East Bay rival. The two teams meet twice annually and will do so again this season, with the second matchup coming on May 19. USF and Cal split the two meetings a year ago and the Dons took the most recent affair at Evans Diamond 11-5. Zack Turner went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI in the contest.
 
ABOUT TULANE
Tulane has already begun its Conference-USA slate but is taking a quick break for the Cal Baseball Classic. The Green Wave has four players batting .300 or better thus far and it is led by Richard Carthon. He is hitting a team-high .385 with a .480 on-base percentage. Their rock out of the bullpen has been Kyle McKenzie, who has a 0.73 ERA in 12.1 innings to go along with 17 strikeouts.