SAN FRANCISCO — Though its longest winning streak in eight years came to an end Sunday, the University of San Francisco baseball team is still one of the hottest teams in the West Coast Conference, and it takes its hot streak on the road this weekend for a pivotal three-game series at top contender San Diego, starting Friday.
Friday.
 
GAME #30-32 INFORMATION
Opponent: San Diego (20-7, 6-3 WCC)
Site: San Diego (Fowler Park)
 
Friday, April 16, 2021 – 6 p.m. PDT
Probable Starters: RHP Landen Bourassa (3-2, 4.12 ERA) vs. RHP Carter Rustad (3-0, 3.90 ERA)
Live Video: bit.ly/3abCHht
Live Stats: bit.ly/3dZi2yg
 
Saturday, April 17, 2021 – 4 p.m. PDT
Probable Starters: RHP Josh Mollerus (0-2, 7.44 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Miller (3-1, 2.63 ERA)
Live Video: bit.ly/3mSCTHN
Live Stats: bit.ly/3dZi2yg
 
Sunday, April 18, 2021 – 1 p.m. PDT
Probable Starters: RHP Grant Nechak (0-1, 6.00 ERA) vs. TBA
Live Video: bit.ly/3afjnju
Live Stats: bit.ly/3dZi2yg
 
ABOUT THE DONS

• San Francisco had its eight-game winning streak snapped Sunday at Santa Clara when the Broncos came from behind after trailing 7-3 and hit a walk-off homer to avoid a series sweep. The Dons have still won nine of their last 12, with all three defeats coming by two or fewer runs. They've also won four of their last five road games.
   
• This weekend's series between the Dons and Toreros features two of the conference's top offenses. San Diego leads the WCC with 7.9 runs per game. San Francisco is fourth at 5.8 runs per game. The Toreros have scored 10 or more runs in eight games, while the Dons have eight games of scoring eight or more runs.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO
San Diego (20-7, 6-3 WCC) is in a four-way tie for second place in the WCC, along with the Dons. After having a conference series postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, the Toreros are three played games behind the pace of the other conference leaders. USD lost its first conference series of the season last weekend, dropping two of three to then-ninth-place Loyola Marymount on the road. They've lost three of their last five after starting the year 18-4 and 5-1 in WCC play.
 
San Diego is one of the best hitting teams in the nation. Its .312 team batting average leads the WCC and is eighth in the country heading into the weekend. Its 69 doubles are tops in the WCC and 10th in the country, and they also rank among the nation's top-10 in sacrifice flies (3rd, 21) and hit-by-pitches (6th, 56). Thomas Luevano's team and conference-leading 41 RBIs are No. 4 in the country, only five behind the national leader. Jack Costello is second in the WCC with a .382 average. Six of the Toreros' regular starters carry batting averages of .324 or better.
 
It's not all offense for San Diego, though. It also leads the WCC with a 3.91 team ERA, is second in strikeouts per nine innings (9.4) and third in strikeouts-to-walks ratio (2.59). Five USD pitchers who have thrown at least 11 innings carry ERAs of 2.87 or lower.
 
CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP (STEALING)
The Dons continue to lead the WCC in stolen bases, ranking 24th in the country now with 45 on the year. Darius Foster leads the WCC and ranks 20th in the country with 14 stolen bases. Jack Winkler has already stolen a single-season career-best 12 bases this year, putting him second in the conference and 39th in the country. Seven different Dons have multiple stolen bases this year.
 
BIG OUTINGS FROM BOURASSA
Landen Bourassa has found his stride in the last two weeks, and it has set the Dons up nicely for the rest of each series. The veteran right-hander has gone seven innings in each of his last two starts, only allowing one earned run for a 0.64 ERA during that stretch. He is riding an active streak of 11 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, dating to his April 1 start versus Loyola Marymount.
 
COMING UP
San Francisco returns home to host co-second place foe Portland for a three-game WCC series starting April 23. Fans can find live coverage links on USFDons.com.