May 3, 2005

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DONS SITTING ATOP FIRST PLACE IN WCC WEST DIVISION, HOST CAL THEN TRAVEL TO SANTA CLARA: USF hosts California in a non-conference game on Tuesday, then travels to Santa Clara to do battle with the Broncos in a three game West Coast Conference series over the weekend.

A LOOK AT USF: The Dons had their eight game winning streak snapped on Saturday in a 5-3 loss to San Diego over the weekend. The Dons beat the Toreros in the first game of the series 3-2 in 11 innings. The Dons trailed 1-0 heading into the sixth inning, when sophomore OF Scott Cousins drilled the first pitch he saw over the right-field fence for his fourth homerun of the season to tie the game at one. Going into the ninth inning the Dons found themselves trailing 2-1. In the top of the 9th inning, sophomore pinch hitter Blake Nelson led off the inning with a single to left field and was sacrificed to second by Smith. Junior center fielder Jonnie Knoble delivered an RBI double down the left field line to score pinch runner sophomore Lucas DeLong to tie the game at two. In the top of the 11th, freshman infielder Joey Railey delivered a one-out RBI single to left field to score junior third baseman Andrew Smith to give the Dons a 3-2 victory. Senior right-hander Nick Pereira threw 6.0 innings, giving up one run, off five hits, while striking out three but did not pick up a decision. Junior right-hander Patrick McGuigan picked up his fifth win of the season in three innings of relief. In the second game of the series, the Toreros jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, after hitting three solo homeruns. The Dons rallied to cut the deficit to 4-3, but could not over take the Toreros as the Dons fell 5-3. Sophomore right-hander Ryan Muller threw 6.1 masterful innings in relief. Muller allowed one run, off four hits, while striking out three. In the third game of the series, the Dons led 2-0 with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, before the Toreros scored three runs to pick up the victory in the series finale. Cousins was tremendous in his 8.1 innings pitched. Cousins limited the Toreros to one run, off four hits, while striking out two. Five Dons collected one hit apiece.

DONS HAVE BEEN DOMINATE AT HOME: The Dons are 16-2 this season at Benedetti Diamond, and will be looking to continue their dominance at home when they take on Cal on Tuesday. At home this season, the Dons have outscored their opponents 125-67. The Dons are hitting .327 at home. Junior outfielder Stefan Gartrell leads the Dons in average at home, with .543 average. Sophomore outfielder Scott Cousins and Lucas DeLong, lead the team on homeruns at Benedetti Diamond with three homeruns apiece. As a pitching staff, the Dons have a 3.18 ERA, giving up 150 hits in 164.0 innings pitched. Freshman left-hander Aaron Poreda is 1-0 at home this season with a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched. Poreda has struck out 15 while walking seven. Senior right-hander T.J. Franco has been dominant at home this season as well. Franco is 3-0 at home in seven appearances, with 17 strikeouts in 14.1 innings pitched.

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA: The Bears comes into the game against the Dons on Tuesday after defeating UCLA two out of three games in Los Angeles over the weekend. The Bears (29-19, 9-9 PAC 10) defeated the Dons earlier in the season 8-3. Offensively the Dons are led by sophomore outfielder Brennan Boesch (.380-7-33), freshman infielder Josh Satin (.357-3-31) and sophomore outfielder Chris Errecart (3.13-7-30). On the mound the Bears are led by senior right-hander Matt Swanson (5-2, 1.51 ERA, 2 Saves), senior left-hander Travis Talbott (4-1, 1.57 ERA, 7 saves) and senior right-hander Eric Dworkis (5-5, 3.68 ERA, 88.0 innings pitched).

WHO'S HOT FOR THE DONS: USF has eight out of their last ten games. The Dons now have had separate winnings streaks of 10 games and of eight games. In the last 10 games for the Dons, sophomore catcher Jon Norfolk is batting .438 (7-16) with three RBI. Junior outfielder Jonnie Knoble is batted .326 (14-43) with a homerun, four doubles, and six RBI. Sophomore outfielder Scott Cousins has hit three of his four homeruns on the season in the last 10 games and has also driven in eight runners. Cousins also owns a 1-0 record with a 2.66 ERA in the Dons last 10 games. Cousins, 23.2 innings, has limited his opponents to just 19 hits, while striking out 12.

USF HAD COACH Nino Giarratano: Nino Giarratano returns for his seventh season on the Hilltop. During his tenure on the Hilltop, 15 players have signed professional contracts, including a program record of four players drafted in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft. In addition, six players have earned First Team All-WCC honors. Giarratano is also committed to excellence in the classroom and 10 Dons have earned All-WCC Academic selections. In addition 24 USF baseball student-athletes were named to the All-WCC Honor Roll during the previous three seasons. Coach Giarratano served as an assistant at Arizona State during the Sun Devils' runner-up showing in the 1998 College World Series. He also posted a 310-122 mark in seven years as head coach at Trinidad State JC (1989-94) and Yavapai CC (1995-96), while being named Collegiate Baseball's National Junior College Coach of the Year three times.

GIARRATANO MOVES INTO THIRD PLACE ALL-TIME IN WINS AT USF: Head coach Nino Giarratano picked up his 159 win in his career on the Hilltop Friday, March 18, 2005 in the first game of the series against Portland to move into third place all-time in wins at USF. Currently, Giarratano is in third place all-time for wins behind USF Hall of Famer Dante Benedetti (427) and Ken Bowman (209).

SAN FRANCISCO NATIVES ADDING POWER TO THE LINEUP: Junior outfielder Stefan Gartrell and sophomore catcher Daniel Morales, both native San Franciscans, are adding a much needed power source to the Dons lineup. Gartrell, who attended Sacred Heart Cathedral, has hit 4 homeruns on the year and leads the team in RBI with 34. Morales, who attended James MacAteer, is tied for the lead on the Dons in homeruns with five and is third on the team with 23 RBI.

USF DEFEATS SHANGHAI 7-3 IN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION GAME: The USF baseball team was victorious over the Shanghai Baseball team, 7-3, in an international exhibition game at Benedetti Diamond Saturday afternoon. The Dons collected 10 hits off Shanghai pitching. Sophomore outfielder Scott Cousins hit a towering homerun over the scoreboard in right field to give the Dons their first run of the game in the second inning. Four Don pitcher's combined to hold Shanghai batters to just seven hits and three runs in the contest.

DONS OFF AND RUNNING ON THE BASE PATHS: The Dons have stolen 62 bases in 80 attempts this season, after leading the conference in steals last season. Last year junior outfielder Jonnie Knoble and junior infielder Andrew Smith each stole 12 bases for the Dons. This season, freshman shortstop Tavo Hall leads the Dons in steals with 12 stolen bases in 19 attempts. Knoble has stole 11 out of 12 bases, sophomore OF/LHP Scott Cousins has stole 11 bases, and Smith has stolen 10 bases in 10 attempts. Senior second baseman Royce Fukuroku has stolen seven of eight bases.

DIAMOND DONS IN CYBERSPACE: For the sixth consecutive year USF will have the majority of the 2005 schedule broadcast live over the internet. The Diamond Dons, in partnership with the official web site of USF athletics - www.usfdons.com - will broadcast all the action. Live video streaming of home games debuts for the 2005 season, courtesy of YahooSports. In addition Gametracker will allow you to follow the play-by-play live. USF is one of just four WCC schools to offer baseball broadcast coverage. The Dons are pleased to welcome back Dan Harrington, Ryan McCrary and Mark Papadopoulos once again this season along with newcomer Peter Dunkle.

Cy Donald - PINCH HITTER EXTRAORDINAIRE: Senior infielder/pinch hitter Cy Donald has come to relish in the opportunities he gets as a pinch hitter for the Dons. On the year, Donald is batting .400 (8-20) as a pinch hitter this season. On the year Donald is batting .347 (17-49) and in West Coast Conference play Donald is batting .435 (10-23). Donald was a Freshman All-American in 2002. As a team, Dons pinch hitters are batting a robust .270 (20-74).

COUSINS CONTINUES TO CONTRIBUTE IN TWO WAY ROLE: Sophomore OF/LHP Scott Cousins has made a major impact for the Dons both as an outfielder and a pitcher in his second year on the Hilltop. Cousins has been named WCC Player of the Month, WCC Player of the Week three times this year, and WCC Pitcher of the Week once. Cousins was dominant again in San Diego over the weekend. Cousins pitched 8.1, giving up one run, off four hits, while striking out two. Cousins picked up his eighth win of the season over LMU. Cousins threw 8.1 innings, allowing five runs off nine hits while striking out five. Cousins pitched well against Saint Mary's but did not pick up a decision. Cousins threw 7.0 innings , limiting the Gaels to two runs off six hits, while striking out six. Cousins threw his second complete game of the year in a losing effort against Gonzaga. Cousins was masterful in the third game of the series against Pepperdine, throwing 8.1 innings and limited the Waves to two runs off five hits, while striking out five. On the mound he is 8-2 with a 2.47 ERA. Cousins is also batting .288 on the year with four homeruns and 19 RBI. Cousins has also stolen 11 bases

PEREIRA CONTINUING HIS DOMINANCE: Senior right-hander Nick Pereira, pitched well in San Diego, but did not pick up a decision. Pereira threw six solid innings, giving up one run, off five hits. Pereira was named March WCC Pitcher of the Month, who also has been named WCC pitcher of the week twice this year, picked up his eighth win of the season by throwing 7.0 innings against LMU, allowing four runs while striking out nine batters. Pereira won his seventh game of the year in the first game of the series over Gonzaga 4-2. Pereira pitched a complete game limiting the Bulldogs to two runs off seven hits while striking out six. Pereira has dominated opposing hitters thus far for the Dons. Pereira(8-2) has a 2.14 ERA and has given up 24 earned runs and has allowed 68 hits in 84.0 innings of work in 13 starts. He is tied for the team lead in wins and is second in ERA. Opponents are batting .226 off of Pereira which is third best on the Dons pitching staff. Pereira was honored as the WCC pitcher of the week after taking home MVP honor for the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic. He threw 17 scoreless innings in two starts to earn two victories. During those 17 innings Pereira only surrendered five hits while striking out 16. In his first start of the tournament Pereira threw eight shutout innings to pick up the victory over the University of Pennsylvania. Pereira threw a one-hit shutout to beat Fresno State in the championship game. In Portland three weeks ago Pereira's streak of 23.1 scoreless innings streak was snapped when he gave up a solo homerun in the seventh inning. Last year Pereira recorded a 2.89 ERA in 21 appearances mostly out of the bullpen.

FUKUROKU BACK AT IT AGAIN: Senior infielder Royce Fukuroku continues to make an impact for USF. Fukuroku has a .288 career average coming into play this year. In the 2005 Fukuroku is batting .336 with five homeruns and seven doubles and 17 RBI. Against Stanford Fukuroku hit his fifth homerun of the season. He slugged two homeruns against Pepperdine to give him 11 in his career on the Hilltop. He earned All-Tournament honors at the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic by batting .450 with a double and a homerun during the six games. Fukuroku also has five stolen bases to go along with the great defense he plays at second base. Fukuroku was a 2002 Freshman All-American and earned All-West Coast Conference second team honors as a freshman.

McGUIGAN IS MR. RELIABLE OUT OF BULLPEN: unior right-handed reliever Patrick McGuigan continues to dominate out of the pen for the Dons. McGuigan picked up his fifth win of the season over San Diego in three strong innings of relief. McGuigan picked up the victory in the second game of the series against LMU. Earlier in the season, McGuigan picked up three saves against Santa Clara earlier in the season. McGuigan (5-2, five saves) has a 1.79 ERA in 45.1 innings so far this season. His first save came against Pacific where he pitched the final three innings giving up only two hits while striking out four. He has given 34 hits in his 45.1 innings while striking out 38 against 9 walks. Last year, in his sophomore campaign, McGuigan had a 2.61 ERA in 31 appearances with six saves.

HALL FILLS RIGHT IN AT SHORTSTOP: Coming into the season the Dons realized they lost a great player in Armand Gaerlan to the Major League Draft. Freshman shortstop Tavo Hall has stepped right in to fill that hole and has made a major impact on the Hilltop. Hall comes into the week batting .319 with a homerun, 10 doubles, 25 RBI, and 32 runs scored. Hall also leads the team in stolen bases with 12 and hits with 59. Hall was honored with WCC player of the week and earned All-Tournament honors for his play during the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic. In his last 15 games, Hall continues to shine, batting .323 with four doubles and five RBI.

GARTRELL DESTROYING OPPOSING PITCHING: Junior outfielder Stefan Gartrell is batting a team leading .372 with four homeruns on the season and leads the team in doubles with 12, and RBI with 34. At the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic, Gartrell earned All-Tournament honors for his efforts. Earlier in the season Gartrell had a 18 game hitting streak. In his last 15 games, Gartrell is batting .426 with a homerun, three doubles, and 16 RBI.

USF WINS PEPSI/JOHNNY QUIK CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP: The Dons won five out of six games to take home the championship in the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic in Fresno, CA. March 7-12. In the first game of the tournament the Dons defeated the University of Pennsylvania 7-0. The second game saw USF beat Southern Utah 10-3. In the third game the Dons defeated host Fresno State 8-5. USF lost the fourth game to Monmouth 5-3 before coming back the next day and defeating Penn State 6-1. In the championship game the Dons faced Fresno State again and defeated them 13-0.

PEREIRA EARNS PEPSI/JOHNNY QUIK CLASSIC MVP: Senior right-hander Nick Pereira was named Most Valuable Player of the PJQ Classic by earning two victories during the week. In two starts, Pereira, threw 17 scoreless innings allowing only five hits while striking out 16 batters. He earned the win against University of Pennsylvania by throwing eight shutout innings, then bettered that feat by throwing a complete game one-hit shutout against Fresno State in the Championship game.

THREE OTHER DONS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Senior second baseman Royce Fukuroku, junior outfielder Stefan Gartrell, and freshman shortstop Tavo Hall each earned All-tournament honors with their performances during the tournament. Fukuroku batted .450 with a double and a homerun during the six games. Gartrell batted .417 with four doubles, a homerun, and seven RBI and Hall batted .458 with a double, homerun, and eight RBI in route to leading the Dons to the championship.

HALL AND PEREIRA NAMED WCC PLAYER AND PITCHER OF WEEK FOR MARCH 14, 2005: Freshman shortstop Tavo Hall was honored as the WCC player of the week for his play during the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic. Hall batted .458 with a double, homerun, and eight RBI in route to leading the Dons to the championship. Senior right-hander Nick Pereira was name co-pitcher of the week in the WCC for his work at the PJQ Classic. In two starts, Pereira, threw 17 scoreless innings allowing only five hits while striking out 16 batters. He earned the win against University of Pennsylvania by throwing eight shutout innings, then bettered that feat by throwing a complete game one-hit shutout against Fresno State in the Championship game.