SAN FRANCISCO — The biggest series of the season comes early this year for the University of San Francisco baseball team, as the Dons open West Coast Conference play this weekend with a three-game series on the road at nationally ranked Pepperdine starting Friday.
 
GAME 18-20 INFORMATION
Opponent: #16/24 Pepperdine (12-3, 0-0 WCC)
Site: Malibu, Calif. (Eddy Field)
 
March 13, 2020 – 3 p.m.
Live Video: bit.ly/2vionTo
Live Stats: bit.ly/39PlM2o
 
March 14, 2020 – 1 p.m.
Live Video: bit.ly/38HdaJB
Live Stats: bit.ly/39PlM2o
 
March 15, 2020 – 1 p.m.
Live Video: bit.ly/2Q3QNaM
Live Stats: bit.ly/39PlM2o
 
TRAVEL TO PEPPERDINE
For questions and concerns relating to traveling to Malibu and attending this weekend's series, please refer to Pepperdine's official release: bit.ly/3cPXW8h
 
ABOUT THE DONS

• San Francisco is riding hot heading into conference play, having won two straight, six of seven, and seven of its last nine games. After a 2-6 start, USF has won back-to-back weekend series and three consecutive midweek games. The Dons are 4-1 in their last five road games.
   
• Robert Emery is carrying the hottest bat around, rolling into the weekend with a 13-game hitting streak during which he's hitting .449, slugging .653 and carrying an on-base percentage of .509. He's put up seven multi-hit performances during the streak with four doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs.
   
• During the Dons' hot streak (since Feb. 28), the pitching staff has lowered its ERA by nearly a run-and-a-half. After giving up 13 runs in a midweek game at San Jose State on Feb. 25, which raised the team ERA to 5.73, USF has dropped its team ERA to 4.29. The staff has only allowed more than five runs on two occasions since that game in San Jose, with five performances of three runs or less allowed.
   
• The Dons haven't won a series in Malibu since 2006, a stretch of 14 years, when they took games one and three en route to their first-ever WCC championship and NCAA Regionals appearance.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE
The Waves (12-3) are ranked No. 16 in the Baseball America top-25 poll and No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. They most recently took a series from last year's national runner-up Michigan at home and have yet to lose a weekend series this year. Pepperdine started the year 7-0 and 10-1, and have gone 5-1 at home so far. In eight of its last nine wins, Pepperdine has only allowed two runs or less.
 
Aharon Modlin leads the potent Pepperdine offense with a .413 batting average. The Waves have hit 13 home runs as a team through 15 games, led by Billy Cook and Justin Lutes with four each. Chandler Cooper leads the starting staff with a 1.00 ERA and 3-0 record in his three starts. He carries a 4-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio to boot, and is holding opponents to a .219 batting average. Four Pepperdine arms, including Cooper, who have thrown at least 11 innings carry ERAs of under 3.00, helping keep the team ERA down to 2.91.
 
LAST TIME OUT
San Francisco scored nine unanswered runs and totaled 16 hits en route to a 12-4 midweek swatting of visiting Sacramento State at Benedetti Diamond on Tuesday. The Dons fell behind early, 2-0, when the Hornets had five of its first six batters in the first inning reach safely, including back-to-back RBI singles with the bases loaded. A double play avoided any further damage for the Dons, and starter Julian Washburn settled in after that, retiring six of the next seven he faced with three strikeouts.
 
Meanwhile, the Dons' offense took off. A sacrifice fly in the second got USF on the board before it put five runs on the board in the third to take the lead for good. The big rally was buoyed by grand slam from Nick Yovetich, a towering shot over the right-center field fence that he crushed after working a full count, giving the Dons a 5-2 lead at the time.
 
VILLAROMAN STANDS ALONE AT No. 2
With three stolen bases on Tuesday versus Sacramento State, senior outfielder Tyler Villaroman elevated himself to No. 2 on the all-time USF career records list for stolen bases. He now has 63 career swipes, passing Zach Kim (2006-09) and Jess Tacias (1994-95) who each stole 62 bases in their careers on The Hilltop. Villaroman still trails USF career record holder Jermaine Clark by 23 stolen bags. Clark stole 86 bases from 1995-97.
 
TWO AWAY FROM 600
San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano needs two more wins to reach 600 in his NCAA coaching career. He's currently at 598 total wins, all achieved on The Hilltop during his 22 years at the helm of the Dons. Giarratano reached 900 total career victories on Feb. 18 with USF's first win this season, combining his then-590 NCAA Division I wins and his 310 junior college victories he achieved from 1989-96.
 
COMING UP
San Francisco travels to 2019 NCAA Regionals participant Fresno State on Tuesday for a midweek affair before returning to San Francisco for its first home WCC series of the year, a three-game set against Pacific starting on March 20. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.