March 31, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

DANTE BENEDETTI CLASSIC: Once again, the Dons will meet Cal at AT&T Park for the Third Annual Dante Benedetti Classic on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 6:30 PM. The Dons defeated Cal 7-6 two years ago in the first DBC, and took a 6-2 victory over Santa Clara last year. The Classic celebrates the legacy of a giant in San Francisco youth and collegiate baseball. Benedetti, who coached USF for 16 years for an annual salary of one dollar, passed away in November 2005 at the age of 86 after a long illness. Preceding the game, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats will meet their inter-city rivals, the Sacred Heart Cathedral Fighting Irish at 3:30 PM.

SCOUTING REPORT - WEEK 7

GAME #28 - No. 7 CAL BEARS (18-5-1)

SCOUTING CAL: The California Golden Bears are back on the national scene this season and own a No. 7 ranking by Collegite Baseball Newspaper. Last weekend they swept then No. 5 Long Beach State in Berkeley. Senior infielder Josh Satin leads the Bears at the plate, batting .446 (41-92) with five doubles, nine homeruns, 30 RBI and a .793 slugging percentage. Also leading with the bat is junior outfielder/first baseman David Cooper, who is batting .398 (37-93) with seven doubles, 11 homeruns, 29 RBI, 31 runs scored and a .828 slugging percentage. On the mound, junior Tyson Ross is 4-0 in four starts with a 1.80 ERA and 21 strikeouts. Head coach David Esquer is in his ninth season at the helm for the Bears, and has a 248-220-1 record.

TEAM COMPARISONS - 2008 SEASON STATS
Team	W-L	BA	RUNS	HITS	HR	RBI	BB 	ERA   SO	OBA
USF 	16-11	.293 	172 	276 	15	159 	96	4.34  178 	.268
CAL	18-5-1	.322	185	269	37	168	112 	3.08  207	.231 

CAL PROBABLE STARTING PITCHER: SO, LHP Chris Petrini (2-1, 5.75 ERA, 13 BB, 18 K, .194 OA, 20.1 I)

LAST MEETINGS: at Cal 6, USF 2 (3/11/08)

LAST TIME AGAINST THE DONS: San Francisco baseball fell to Bay Area rival California, 6-2 in non-conference action at Evans Field. Junior left-hander Evan Fredrickson (1-2) took the loss for USF, allowing four runs (three earned) off four hits and six walks, and adding seven strikeouts. Freshman righty Sean Burns allowed the final two runs (one earned) off three hits, one walk, and struck out one Bear in 1.1 innings of relief. Senior second baseman Joey Railey, freshman center fielder Connor Bernatz, senior shortstop Tavo Hall, and senior first baseman Mitchell Bialosky were the only Dons to get hits on the day. Hall and Bernatz each added an RBI.

DONS IN THE DANTE BENEDETTI CLASSIC: USF 7, Cal 6 (4/25/06) - In the first annual Dante Benedetti Classic, USF came from behind to defeat Cal 7-6. USF managed ten hits in the contest. Scott Cousins was 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a homerun. Andrew Smith and George Lujan each stroked two hits with Joey Railey, Stefan Gartrell, and Daniel Morales adding one each. Cole Stipovich (2-1) earned the victory, facing only one batter in 0.1 innings of work. Sophomore right-hander Brian Anderson started the game, throwing 4.0 innings, allowing three runs (all earned) on three hits, walking two and striking out two. Junior right-hander John Quine came on in relief of Anderson, and threw 4.2 innings, allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits and a walk. - USF 6, SCU 2 (4/6/07) - USF took a 6-2 victory over Bay Area and Conference foe Santa Clara at AT&T Park in the Second Annual Dante Benedetti Classic. Senior right-hander Jason Dufloth (5-3) went the distance, earning his fifth win of the season in the longest outing of his career. Dufloth threw 115 pitches, only allowing two earned runs off seven hits and no walks, and recorded four strikeouts. Joey Railey had three hits in the contest, giving him four in the two-year history of the game. Jonnie Knoble had two hits, three RBI and stole his team leading 15th and 16th bases. Brian Chavez had two hits also. Mitchell Bialosky, Tavo Hall, and Daniel Morales each had one hit on the day.

WHO'S HOT FOR THE DONS:

Joey Railey MOVES UP HITS CHART: Senior second baseman Joey Railey is known to get a lot of hits. He continued his onslaught last week, pounding out eight in four games. With 38 on the season, Railey now has 199 for his career, good for 10th place all time. He needs two to pass John Mangiante (1980-83/200) for ninth place.

DON'T GIVE HIM ANY LIP; HE'S BATTING .400: Sophomore catcher Ryan Lipkin is leading the Dons with a very impressive .400 batting average (28-for-70). Lipkin also leads the Dons with eight doubles. On the year, Lipkin has one homerun, nine RBI, 17 runs scored, and is 1-for-1 in stolen bases.

A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH?: Freshman left-hander Matt Lujan has thrown two consecutive gems on the mound. Last week (3/20), he threw 8.0 innings, earning the 6-0 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson (the shutout was the Dons first of 2008). This week, in helping the Dons earn the series victory over Saint Mary's, Lujan threw his first complete game as a Don, nearly earning another shutout. On Sunday, Lujan threw 9.0 innings, giving up just one run off three hits, two walks, and struck out two Gaels.

IT TOOK FOUR YEARS, BUT HE GOT IT DONE: Tavo Hall finally hit his second homerun...four years after hitting the first. On Tuesday (3/26), Hall smashed a lead-off homerun to left field in the fourth inning in USF's 10-5 win over Fresno State. His first homerun was on March 8, 2005, when as a freshman, Hall hit a two run shot in the fourth inning of a 10-3 victory over Southern Utah in the Pepsi/Johnny Quick Classic at Fresno State. Hall played in 131 games between his two long balls.

Mitchell Bialosky WINS THE GAME ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL: In Friday's 2-0 victory over Saint Mary's, senior first baseman/right-handed pitcher Mitchell Bialosky nearly did it himself. Batting in the winning run in the in the sixth, Bialosky also earned the win on the mound. In a relief outing, Bialosky threw the final 5.0 innings, not allowing a run, off five hits, one walk, and struck out four Gaels. The win is his first of 2008.

MORGAN CONTINUES TO PILE ON THE RBI'S: With eight RBI in four games last week, senior right-fielder Kyle Morgan now has a team leading 29 RBI in 27 games. Morgan has led the Dons in RBI in three of the six weeks USF has been playing in 2008.

YARROW MAKES DEBUT: Freshman Stephen Yarrow made his Dons debut last week. When Mitchell Bialosky moved from first base to the pitcher's mound in Friday's 2-0 win over Saint Mary's, Yarrow took over at first. Yarrow made a run-saving play, throwing out a Gael at home in the seventh inning.

DONS HAVE SEVEN GAME WIN STREAK: In their last nine games, the Dons are 8-1, including a seven game win streak. The streak started on March 18th with a 13-8 win over Fresno State and ended with a 10-9 loss at Saint Mary's on Saturday (3/29). In the streak, the Dons batted .356 (88-247), with 22 doubles, three triples, six homeruns, 54 RBI and 58 runs scored. USF also stole 13 bases. USF pitchers held opponents to a .201 batting average (46-229) and had a ver low 2.71 ERA.

USF FINISHES MARCH 13-8: In the first full month of baseball competition in 2008, USF finished with a 13-8 record. The Dons played the best at Benedetti, 7-1, and went one game under .500 (6-7) on the road, including 2-1 at Saint Mary's in West Coast Conference opening weekend.