Game No. 39-41San Francisco Dons (19-19, 11-4 WCC) at San Diego Toreros (22-13, 12-3 WCC)April 17-19 | 6 p.m., 6 p.m., 1 p.m.Fowler Park | San Diego, Calif.LIVE STATS | VIDEO SAN FRANCISCO—Winners of eight of their last nine, the Dons take their streak into San Diego for a three-game set in a battle for first place with the Toreros, beginning on Friday night.
PROBABLE MATCHUPS DONS BREAK OUT THE BATSThe Dons have won seven of their last eight games and in that stretch have scored 65 runs (8.1 per game) have pounded out 99 hits (11 per game), including at least 10 hits in six of those games.
FRIDAY NIGHT BASEBALLThe Dons' game on Friday at San Diego will be the highlighted Friday Night Baseball game for TheW.tv. Steve Quis will be on the call for the ballgame.
IN THE HUNTThe Dons are just past the halfway point of the conference schedule and are 11-4, alone in second place in the West Coast Conference. They are one game back of first place San Diego and are only two games ahead of fourth place Loyola Marymount. The top four teams in the WCC qualify for the WCC Championship Tournament at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif., which is slated to begin on May 21.
CECILIO ON FIREChristian Cecilio has quickly turned into one of the better pitchers in the country. Since the beginning of West Coast Conference play where he has thrown 43.2 innings, including three complete game shutouts, and has an ERA of 0.82. The senior was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 30 after throwing a complete game shutout at AT&T Park against Saint Mary's. Most recently, he struck out 11 as part of a complete game shutout of Portland at Benedetti Diamond. He has a season ERA of 1.77.
STARTED AT THE BOTTOM, NOW WE'RE HEREThe Dons started the season by dropping their first 10 games, all in the month of February, but since then have gone 19-9 (.678) and have reached the .500 mark. Since the calendar has flipped past February, USF is 8-4 at home and 10-4 away from Benedetti Diamond.
MIDDLE INFIELD SWINGING HOT BATSNico Giarratano and
Michael Eaton have caught fire of late had have been a big part of the Dons' recent offensive resurgence. Over his last 12 games, Giarratano is hitting .400 (18-for-45) with four doubles and two triples. Eaton has picked it up with the bat as well and is hitting .407 (11-for-27) with four doubles over his last eight games.
MIROGLIO ON JOHNNY BENCH WATCH LISTSophomore catcher
Dominic Miroglio has been a difference maker on offense and defense for the Dons this season and was honored by being named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The Johnny Bench Award is given to the best Division I catcher in the nation. Miroglio is hitting .343 with three home runs and 31 RBI and is throwing out 50 percent of runners. He leads all WCC catchers in batting average, RBI, and caught stealing percentage.
INNINGS EATERSChristian Cecilio and
Anthony Shew have thrown more innings than anyone in the conference. Cecilio (71.0 IP) and Shew (66.2) are first and second respectively in innings pitched in the WCC.
SMILING SAM GRANOFFRedshirt freshman
Sam Granoff has been a welcomed surprise for the Dons so far this season. He has a team-best 1.44 ERA, has thrown 40.2 innings over his last six starts with a 1.32 ERA. He had a stretch from Mar. 24 to Apr. 12 where he did not allow a run for 22 innings. Two of the starts have come against ranked teams (No. 8 Orgeon, No. 24 California).
CECILIO MOVING UP USF LISTSChristian Cecilio has been a regular presence in the Dons' rotation since his freshman season. On April 3, Cecilio became the school's all-time leader in games started with his 50th start and moved into fifth place on the school's career innings list, passing former teammate
Abe Bobb (282.0 IP).
DUCK SEASONThe Dons have played their best baseball of the season over the last few days and it resulted in two wins over No. 8 Oregon at PK Park in Eugene, Ore.
Sheldon Lee went 5.1 shutout innings in the opener to pick up the 4-1 win. In the second game,
Brendan Hendriks and
Derek Atkinson both drove in two and
Sam Granoff kept the Ducks off balance as he went 6.1 innings and allowed two earned runs as part of the 8-2 victory.
CAGING THE GOLDEN BEARSSam Granoff was masterful against No. 24 California on Tuesday and he went 7+ innings, allowing one run on eight hits.
Nico Giarratano had the game-winning hit with a two-run double in the eighth inning to put the Dons on top 3-1.
SHEW'S ENDURANCEAnthony Shew has quickly established himself as one of the better and more durable pitchers in the conference and showed it again on Friday when he battled through seven innings against Portland for a 7-6 victory. He has thrown at least eight innings in six of his nine starts this season.
#DonsOTRSan Francisco has a grueling schedule that will have the team away from home for 36 of the team's 55 games, including a stretch of 12 straight and 19 of 23 to start the season. It will include trips to Texas Tech, New Mexico, Oregon, and Gonzaga.
TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SLATEThe Dons may have one of the tougher non-conference schedules in the country. They play eight games against teams that are ranked in the top 35 in the country (Texas Tech, Oregon, Stanford), according to the NCBWA, and an additional five games against teams receiving votes. All the games against ranked teams will also be on the road.
HENDRIKS NAMED TOP 100 SENIORAfter a season where he was second on the team in slugging at .493,
Brendan Hendriks has been named to Baseball America's Top 100 Seniors list and came in at 91. The senior from Alberta, Canada hit a career-high six home runs with 39 RBI in 2014, including a game-winner in the 19th inning at No. 2 Cal State Fullerton and a two-home run game against California.
GIARRATANO MOVING UP THE CHARTSHead coach
Nino Giarratano enters his 17th season at USF and has accumulated 476 wins over that time, which is the most in school history and is the third most in West Coast Conference history. He sits behind only John Cunningham (524, San Diego) and current San Diego and former USF coach Rich Hill (691).
