Head Coach: Nino Giarratano
Overall Record: 39-23    WCC Record: 15-6
All-WCC Team: Scott Cousins (Player of the Year), Patrick McGuigan (Co-Pitcher of the Year), Stefan Gartrell, Aaron Poreda
Top Hitter: Scott Cousins (.347)    Most RBI's: Stefan Gartrell (62)    Most Home Runs: Lucas DeLong (8)
Most Wins: Patrick McGuigan (12)    Most Strikeouts: Aaron Poreda (75)

The 2006 USF Dons shared the West Coast Conference title with Pepperdine as both teams finished the regular season at 15-6. The Waves, however, won the season-ending three-game playoff series and thus earned the automatic bid to the NCAA postseason tournament. The Dons, who stood at 38-21 and were ranked 23rd in the national polls, earned an at-large bid to the Lincoln Regional and made their first ever trip to an NCAA Regional.  

It didn't look good early for the Dons, as they opened the season losing three straight to UC Riverside getting outscored 24-9 in the process. The slow-starting Dons went just 5-8 during their next 13 games and as they prepared to host Georgetown, in a three-game series on March 10, USF owned a very ordinary 5-11 record. The Dons went on to sweep Georgetown, outscoring the Hoyas 17-3 with the Dons' pitching staff tossing two shutouts.

The sweep against Georgetown jump-started started a six game winning streak for USF and a stretch that saw the Dons win 15 of their next 17 games including an 8-2 rout over 12th ranked Oregon State and a three-game sweep on the road against Oral Roberts.

USF opened West Coast Conference play by taking two out of three from rival Santa Clara, followed by two out of three from No. 22 Pepperdine. The Dons rolled through league play with a 15-6 record and faced off against Pepperdine in the WCC Championship series. The Dons grabbed the opener 7-6, and the Waves bounced back to win the next two 11-0 and 9-4.

In the NCAA Lincoln Regional, USF was upended by Miami 11-2 in the first round, but then turned things around in the elimination bracket, shocking host Nebraska 5-1 behind the solid pitching of Aaron Poreda. Manhattan College ended the Dons season on June 4 by a score of 6-4. The Dons had their chances, as they put the tying runs on base in the ninth inning, coming up just short in the rally effort.

Did You Know? Not only did Patrick McGuigan set the single-season record for most wins by a pitcher with 12 victories, but he also tied USF All-American and Dons Legend of the Hilltop, Dana Hendershott with 22 career wins. McGuigan was also available out of the bullpen between starts and tallied five saves.

They Said It: "I couldn't be more proud from an individual awards standpoint," USF head coach Nino Giarratano said about Scott Cousins being named the WCC Player of the Year. "When you win sometimes these are the good things that happen to a program and it's one thing that we definitely welcome and we hope we can continue the success. Scott just kept coming out and kept proving it and that's what kind of player he is and it is something well deserved for him. I am proud of everything he has been able to accomplish as a student-athlete here at USF."