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The Diamond Dons Travel to Nevada Tuesday Before Hosting San Diego for a Three Game WCC Series This Weekend
April 26, 2004
Games 4/27-5/2Tuesday April 27, 2004 @ Nevada Reno, NV/ Peccole Park 2:00 PM
Friday April 30, 2004 vs. San Diego San Francisco, CA/ Benedetti Diamond 3:00 PM
Saturday May 1, 2004 vs. San Diego San Francisco, CA/ Benedetti Diamond 1:00 PM
Sunday May 2, 2004 vs. San Diego San Francisco, CA/ Benedetti Diamond 1:00 PM
USF GOES 2-3 ON THE WEEK; LOSE TWO OF THREE AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: Last week started out well for the Diamond Dons. USF (20-24, 8-10 WCC) traveled up to UC Davis to take on the Aggies in the second of a home and home series and won the contest easily 10-0, behind a solid effort from the pitching staff and some clutch hitting from senior Joe Jacobitz, who had three hits on the day. Wednesday, the Diamond Dons welcomed in the Rainbows of the University of Hawaii for a one game before the Rainbows had to head to Fresno State. USF held a 5-2 lead going into the top of the seventh inning, but the Rainbows struck for four runs and held on to beat the Dons 6-5. The Dons then traveled to LMU for a three-game series in Los Angeles, kicking off Friday afternoon. Again, USF held a lead late, but allowed a big inning. The Dons were up 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth when the Lions struck for five runs and held on to win 6-3. USF evened the series Saturday with a 10-7 victory. Steve Spurgeon picked the win, his second of the week, and Stefan Gartrell cracked his team-leading fifth home run of the season to key the USF victory. In the rubber match, the Lions shut down the Dons, taking it 7-0.
THE DIAMOND DONS TRAVEL TO NEVADA TUESDAY BEFORE WELCOMING IN SAN DIEGO FOR A CRUCIAL THREE-GAME SET THIS WEEKEND: USF kicks off the week Tuesday afternoon with a non-conference match up at Nevada. The Wolf Pack (23-19) are coming off a three-game series at San Jose State in which they took two of three from the Spartans. Nevada took the first two games of the series, winning 3-2 on Friday and 10-5 on Saturday, but San Jose State was able to salvage the last game of the series, winning 10-3 Sunday. The Wolf Pack are winners on nine of their last 11 games. San Diego (25-19, 12-9 WCC) is coming off a three-game sweep of Portland at home over the weekend. The Toreros outscored Portland 30-9 over the series and have won 11 of its last 13 games, including five straight.
SENIORS CONTINUE TO GET IT DONE AT THE PLATE: The senior threesome of Armand Gaerlan, Chris Genung, and Joe Jacobitz continue to pound opposing pitchers this season. Over their last 10 games, the three seniors have combined to hit .423, going 50-for-118. Gaerlan has hit .538 over that span, going 21-for-39, with three doubles, a triple, 10 runs scored and 9 RBI. Genung, the conference's second-leading hitter, hit .400 over the last 10 games, with three of his conference leading 18 doubles, and 13 RBI. Jacobitz has come on of late and has delivered some key hits. He is hitting .333 over the last 10 games, going 13-for-39, with three doubles and six RBI.
DONS HURLERS GETTING IT DONE: The USF pitching staff continues to perform well as the WCC season rolls on. The team ERA of 4.55 is tops in the conference this season. The Diamond Don pitching staff leads the conference in runs allowed (221) and walks allowed (112) and also ranks second in wins (20). Opposing hitters are hitting .283 against the Dons, the second lowest average in the league. TJ Franco is third in the conference with five wins, followed by Kevin Rose with four. Derek Tate's 3.39 ERA ranks fourth in the conference. With 69 strikeouts, Kevin Rose ranks third in the WCC.
USF AT THE PLATE: At .304, the Diamond Dons are second in the conference in team batting average, behind only San Diego (.313). USF is second in the conference with 476 hits and third in runs scored (269), RBI (242), total bases (622). Chris Genung is second in the WCC in hitting (.375) and hits (66) and leads the conference in doubles with 18. Stefan Gartrell is tied for fourth in the conference with five home runs.
THE DONS FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED: San Francisco has been able to manufacture runs behind a speedy lineup that paces the conference in stolen bases with 51. At the top of the list are sophomores Andrew Smith and Jonnie Knoble who rank first and second on the squad with 10 and nine swipes, respectively. 13 different Dons have recorded more than one steal so far this season. San Francisco has not led the league in steals since the 2000 season, but paced the conference four times in six years from 1995-2000.
TEAM LEADERS:Batting Batting Average (min 50 ab's) - Chris Genung .375 Home Runs -Stefan Gartell 5 RBI - Chris Genung 34 Runs - Armand Gaerlan 31 Hits - Chris Genung 66 Doubles - Chris Genung 18 Stolen Bases - Andrew Smith 10
Pitching Wins - TJ Franco 5 ERA (min. 30 inn.) - Patrick McGuigan 2.35 Strikeouts - Kevin Rose 69 Saves - Patrick McGuigan 5 Complete Games - Derek Tate 2
DIAMOND DONS RANKING HIGH IN WCC STATISTICS: There are several Dons that are at or near the top of many of the WCC statistical categories.
Offensive Categories:
Batting Average: Chris Genung .375 2nd Armand Gaerlan .352 5th
Hits: Chris Genung 66 2nd Armand Gaerlan 62 3rd
Home Runs: Stefan Gartrell 5 4th Nick Cirbo 4 5th
Runs Batted In: Chris Genung 34 5th Armand Gaerlan 31 8th
Doubles: Chris Genung 18 1st
On Base Percentage: Armand Gaerlan .432 7th Chris Genung .416 9th
Total Bases: Chris Genung 93 3rd Armand Gaerlan 80 6th
Stolen Bases: Andrew Smith 10 3rd Jonnie Knoble 9 4th
Pitching Categories:
Wins: TJ Franco 5 3rd Kevin Rose 4 4th
ERA: Derek Tate 3.39 4th
Strikeouts: Kevin Rose 69 3rd Derek Tate 54 10th
Saves: Patrick McGuigan 5 3rd
WCC TEAM CATEGORIES:
Offensive Categories:
Team Batting Average .304 2nd Runs 269 3rd Hits 476 2nd RBI 242 3rd Sac 32 1st Stolen Bases 51 1st
Pitching Categories:
Wins 20 2nd ERA 4.55 1st Hits Allowed 376 3rd Runs Allowed 221 1st Walks Allowed 112 1st Opposing Average .283 2nd
Fielding Categories:
Fielding Percentage: .965 3rd Errors 51 4th
NEWS AND NOTES:
Kevin Rose NAMED WCC PITCHER OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH: USF senior right-hander Kevin Rose turned in an outstanding month of March, dominating opposing hitters in four starts for the Dons. The San Jose native posted a 3-0 record for the month, compiling an impressive stat line that includes a 1.44 earned run average in 25.0 innings of work, while surrendering just four earned runs off 15 hits. Rose struck out 31 opposing hitters in his four appearances, while permitting only 11 walks. He did not surrender a homerun during the month and held opposing batters to a minuscule .172 batting average. Rose earned WCC Player of the Week honors after recording his 14th career victory in a 2-1 win over Santa Clara on March 26. He allowed just one unearned run off one base hit, while matching a season-high nine strikeouts as the Dons defeated the Broncos at Buck Shaw Stadium for the first time since 1998. Rose threw 104 pitches in that contest, with 75 of them registering for strikes.
Nick Cirbo NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior catcher Nick Cirbo was named the West Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Week for 3/16-3/21. The Colorado native propelled USF to a 5-0 record for the week, while batting at a .500 (9-18) clip as USF swept a non-conference series against Lafayette and their league opening series against Portland. Cirbo launched two towering homeruns to left, added a pair of doubles, drove in a team-high six runs and also scored a team-high six runs. In addition, Cirbo threw out three base runners. This is the third time Cirbo has received this honor in his four-year career on the Hilltop. This is the second time a Dons catcher has been named the West Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Week.
JON NORFOLK NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Freshman Jon Norfolk made one of the most memorable Diamond Dons debuts in recent memory this week for the University of San Francisco, en route to being named the WCC Player of the Week for the week of February 23rd-29th. This is his first player of the week honor in Norfolk's career. It is also the first WCC player of the week honor for the Diamond Dons this season. The redshirt freshman from Moreno Valley collected his first collegiate base hit in his first at-bat Tuesday as a pinch-hitter in USF's 7-4 victory at Cal. Norfolk did not play in the opening game of San Francisco's series against Hawaii, but made his presence felt in the final two games - both USF victories. Norfolk abused Rainbow pitching, going 5-for-7 with two doubles and five RBI in his first two collegiate starts of his career. Norfolk drove in three runs in USF's series clinching 7-4 win. In addition to his offensive fireworks, Norfolk did an excellent job defensively and managed the pitching staff like a veteran. For the week, Norfolk batted .750 (6-8) with two doubles, five RBI and three runs scored.
GIARRATANO MOVING UP THE LADDER: With San Francisco's 15th win this season against Gonzaga, Head Coach Nino Giarratano moved into 17th place on the WCC all-time career victories. After the win at Loyola Marymount on April 24th, Giarratano now has 138 career victories.
CHASING THE STRIKEOUT RECORD: Senior pitcher Kevin Rose's career strikeout mark of 235 ranks fourth on the program's all-time strikeout list. The All-time record belongs to former USF All-American Dana Hendershott. Hendershott recorded 299 strikeouts from 1968-1971. His 14 career victories ties him with Ken Bowman (1972-1975) and Sean Buller (1995-1998) for 5th place all time.
GAERLAN AND JACOBITZ REACHING THE CHARTS: Seniors Joe Jacobitz and Armand Gaerlan are both rapidly approaching the top ten all-time hit list. With 227 all-time hits, Gaerlan is now a member of the top #5 all time, is now #4 all-time in hits at USF, passing Pat Walsh (1997-2000) The All-Time USF Dons hit record belongs to former USF All-American Taggert Bozied, who collected 287 hits from 1998-2001. Gaerlan is also sitting alone in 5th place with 113 career RBI's. Jacobitz has 194 hits, good for 9th all-time. Joe is also sitting in #6th place at 107 career RBI's.
TWO DIAMOND DONS MAKE THE RIVER CITY CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Seniors Joe Jacobitz and Kevin Rose were both named to the 2004 River City All-Tournament in Sacramento. Jacobitz hit .750 for the tournament, going 6-8, with a double, two runs batted in, and two runs scored. Rose went seven innings in his only start, giving up just four hits and striking out five to beat a strong Cal Poly team on February 20th.
SCOUTING THE WOLF PACK: Nevada is led at the plate by Jacob Butler. Butler is hitting .363 on the year with a team leading 13 homers and 44 RBI. His 58 hits and 10 doubles also pace the Wolf Pack squad. Ben Mummy leads the team with a .367 batting average and has hit eight home runs and has driven in 41 runs. Eight Wolf Pack hitters have at least five home runs this season. As a team, they are hitting .304, with 60 home runs. They have outscored their opponents 348-321. On the mound, they have a team ERA of 6.90. Their top starter is Travis Sutton, who is 7-3, with a 4.66 ERA on the season. In their last meeting on 2/15/2004, the two teams were involved in a serious pitching duel between Dons starter Derek Tate and Nevada pitchers Chris Scott and Adam Colton. The Wolf Pack beat the Dons 2-1 as Tate went the distance giving up two runs on seven hits.
SCOUTING THE TOREROS: San Diego is hitting .313 as a team and has outscored its opponent 312-232 for the season. Their leading hitter is Josh Hansen, who leads the team with a .374 average. His 61 hits pace the Toreros. Freddy Sandoval is leading the team with six home runs and 42 RBI. On the mound, USD has a team ERA of 4.68. Their top three starters are a combined 16-6 for the Toreros. Kyle Collins is 5-1, with 3.86 ERA. Aaron Wilson leads the conference with seven wins and Justin Blaine is 4-2 on the season.
UP NEXT FOR THE DIAMOND DONS: Next weekend the Diamond Dons welcome in the Santa Clara Broncos for a key WCC match up. The three-game series begins with a 3:00 PM Friday afternoon game, followed up with games Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 PM.
