April 18, 2002

Scouting The Pepperdine waves: The Waves are coming in the three-game series this weekend on a three-game losing streak. Pepperdine dropped 10-9 and 7-5 losses to Loyola Marymount last weekend and on Tuesday to #15 Cal State Fullerton 8-6. Leading the Waves at the plate is sophomore outfielder Cory Brightwell with a .359 average with 10 doubles, a team-high two triples and five homeruns. Junior infielder Ty Harper follows batting .338 with five doubles, one homerun and is tied for third with 25 RBI. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jacob Barrack leads the Waves' bullpen with a 3.83 ERA and 4-1 record for the season. Barrack has made 15 appearances for the Waves completing 47.0 innings of work with a team-high 44 strikeouts.

USF vs. Pepperdine - 2001 Series: The last time these two teams met was April 21-22, 2001. The Waves swept the series against USF with 7-3, 5-4 and 11-10 victories in Malibu.

Booth Continues To Leave the Yard: Senior catcher Steve Booth continues his tremendous power surge. For the season, Booth leads the team in homeruns (14), doubles (12), extra base hits (27) and RBI (50). In addition, Booth rates second on the team in batting average (.331) and has been solid behind the plate, throwing out 13 base-runners this season. In his last 10 games, Booth hit at a .289 clip with two homeruns to go along with two doubles and 6 RBI in 38 plate appearances recording 50 RBI in his last 50 at bats. Booth's long ball production places him in a share of fifth place on the USF single-season chart place with Taggert Bozied (2000) and Peter Quittner (1997). Bozied is the single-season and West Coast Conference leader with 30 in 1999. Booth is tied for 9th place on the career homerun list at 16.

DONS BATTLED Gonzaga & SFSU: USF dropped two games of a three-game conference series with the Bulldogs in San Francisco last weekend. After dropping a 8-4 decision Friday, the Dons rallied on Saturday. San Francisco sophomore shortstop Armand Gaerlan knocked out three homeruns in the series tallying four runs scored, five RBI and five hits for the series. Booth and sophomore outfielder Joe Jacobitz also went yard in the series. Jacobitz posted six hits and two runs scored in the series. Junior right-hander Bryan Williams recorded the win against the Bulldogs Saturday. With the win Williams improves to 3-5 on the season. Williams threw a complete game with six strikeouts in the 9-2 win. The Dons faced cross-town foe San Francisco State Tuesday taking a 9-8 victory in the ninth inning. USF rallied from an 8-2 defecit in the eighth to cut the Gators' lead to 8-4 and took the win in the ninth with five runs off three Don triples. Jacobitz, senior first baseman Nick Cirbo and freshman third baseman Cy Donald knocked in the five runs in the ninth to secure the Don victory. Junior right-hander Zach Brooks recorded the win improving his record to 2-0 on the season.

USF Head Coach Nino Giarratano: Nino Giarratano returns for his fourth season on the Hilltop. He guided the Dons to a winning season, including a 13-2 home record, against the toughest schedule in program history. Giarratano owns a 83-117-1 record with the Dons including two road wins last season against top ranked schools. Coach Giarratano served as an assistant at Arizona State during the Sun Devils' runner-up showing at the 1998 College World Series. Giarratano also posted a 310-122 mark in seven years as head coach at Trinidad State JC (1990-94) and Yavapi CC (1995-96), while being named Collegiate Baseball's National Junior College Coach of the Year on three occasions.

Jacobitz Continues To Produce: Sophomore outfielder Joe Jacobitz has made a big impact on the USF lineup after turning in a Freshman All-American campaign at UNLV last season. Jacobitz leads the Dons in batting average (.399), hits (67), runs (36) and ties for second in doubles (9) and ranks second in RBI (30). In his last 10 games, Jacobitz has hit .462 with 18 hits and two doubles and one homerun to go along with five runs scored. Jacobitz had a monster day in game three at Loyola Marymount, in a game to be completed on May 10. Jacobitz went 5-for-6 with six RBI and drew a pair of intentional walks. In game one against Santa Clara, the sophomore switch hitter went a perfect 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI. A great contact hitter, Jacobitz has struck out just 20 times in 168 at-bats and needs just 6 hits to crack the single-season top-10 list. Rich Herbert owns 10th place on the single-season list with 73 hits in 1984. Former Dons All-American Taggert Bozied tops the list with 84 base hits in 1999.

Fukuroku - Hawaiian Superman: Freshman infielder Royce Fukuroku proves the old adage of good things coming in small packages and his production for the Dons this season has been anything but small. In his last 10 games Fukuroku has hit at a .258 clip with eight hits, one double, two homeruns and four RBI. In the suspended game against Loyola Marymount, Fukuroku tied a USF single-game record with a 6-for-7 performance, pounded a homerun and drove in seven RBI to help USF to a 25-21 lead heading into the bottom of the 10th. Fukuroku launched another dramatic homerun to left field against #23 Oklahoma State for his third long ball of the season. A terrific contact hitter, Fukuroku has recorded just eight strikeouts in 106 at-bats during an impressive power season in his first year on the Hilltop.

Dunkle Moves Up Career Wins List: Senior right-hander Peter Dunkle moved into a share of fourth place on the USF career wins list when he won in relief against Michigan. Dunkle needs just two more wins to secure sole possession of third place behind Dana Hendershott (1968-71), who won 22 games and Jerry Eillers (1962-64), who won 17 decisions. Dunkle is also moving up the career strikeout list after entering the season in third place on the all-time career list with 187. So far, Dunkle leads the team with 60 strikeouts this season and has 227 in his career. Dunkle recorded aseason-high 10 strikeouts against Gonzaga in the Sunday loss to the Bulldogs. Hendershott is the all-time USF "K" leader with 299, while Eillers is second with 263.

GAERLAN GOES DEEP AGAIN FOR USF: Sophomore infielder Armand Gaerlan powered his seventh, eight and ninth homeruns of the season in the conference series with Gonzaga. Gaerlan has homered four times in the last five contests for the Dons. After homering just once during his freshman campaign - a dramatic solo shot to left in USF's upset victory against Stanford last season - Gaerlan has surpasses his RBI production (15) of his freshman All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention campaign with 22 RBI this season. Gaerlan, who demonstrates his toughness in every contest, has played the majority of the season with a broken jaw. Gaerlan ranks second on the team in homeruns (9) and ranks second in extra-base hits (15) behind Booth.

GRADISHAR ENJOYING SENIOR YEAR: Senior second baseman Luke Gradishar is making the most of his final season of collegiate baseball. Gradishar leads the Dons at the plate during West Coast Conference action at an impressive .415 pace with four doubles, a triple, and three RBI. Gradishar rates fourth on the team in hits (34), and doubles (7) and shares fifth place in runs (17). In the suspended game against Loyola Marymount, Gradishar was enjoying a fine day at the plate, going 4-for-6 with three runs. Gradishar went 5-for-11 in the last WCC series against Santa Clara with a double, an RBI and earned three walks.

USF vs. Loyola Marymount Game Three: USF and Loyola Marymount will continue their March 24 contest called due to darkness on May 10th before hosting the Lions in a three-game set at Benedetti Diamond. Heading into the bottom of the 10th inning, USF leads LMU 25-21. The two teams have already combined for a remarkable 51 hits, with the Dons accumulating 29, led by a 6-for-7, seven RBI day from freshman infielder Royce Fukuroku and a 5-for-6, six RBI day from sophomore outfielder Joe Jacobitz.

DONS AMONG WCC LEADERS: USF has a couple players near the top of West Coast Conference statistical categories. As of April 15, the date of the last set of league numbers sent out by the conference office, sophomore slugger Joe Jacobitz ranked second on hits with 59, trailing only Santa Clara's Joey Gomes (65). Senior catcher Steve Booth rated first in the WCC in RBI with 50, leading Gonzaga's Nate Gold (48). In addition, Booth ranked second on the homerun leader board with 14 on the season, also behind Gold (24), who is chasing former Dons All-American Taggert Bozied who launched a WCC and USF record 30 in 1999. Booth also registered fourth in total bases with a total of 101. On the pitching side, senior right-hander Peter Dunkle's 60 strikeouts after the weekend series against Gonzaga was good for second place among league leaders. USD's Tom Caple led the field with 74 strikeouts, while Ricky Barrett was second with 59 for the Toreros.

DONS ON A TEAR AT THE PLATE: Jacobitz is setting the pace for the Dons in batting recording a team-high .462 (18-for-39) average in the last ten games. Joe has knocked in four RBI with two doubles and one homerun. Booth has added six RBI with two homeruns, one triple and two doubles in the last ten games for the Dons leading the team in extra base hits. Second on extra base hits in the last ten contests is Gaerland who knocked out four homeruns in three games against Gonzaga and Oklahoma State. Gaerlan also adds nine RBI and a .220 average at the plate. The team is hitting a combined .292 average with 102 hits, and 27 extra base hits including 11 homeruns in the last ten contests.

USF LEADERS: Batting Average: Joe Jacobitz (.399) Hits: Joe Jacobitz (67) Runs: Joe Jacobitz (36) Doubles: Steve Booth (12) Homeruns: Steve Booth (14) Extra-base hits: Steve Booth (27) RBI: Steve Booth (50) ERA: Steve Moses (5.95) Appearances: Steve Moses (21) Strikeouts: Peter Dunkle (60)