April 29, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

DONS PLAY FIVE GAMES IN SIX DAYS: USF (25-19, 8-7 WCC) starts their second consecutive five game week with a road game at Pacific (8-31, 2-13 Big West) on Tuesday at 6:35 PM in the final meeting between the teams. On Wednesday, the Dons host Fresno State (26-20, 14-6 WAC) at 3:00 PM also in the final meeting for the two teams. In West Coast Conference play, San Francisco heads to Washington for a three game set with Gonzaga (25-18, 7-7 WCC). Friday's first pitch is set for 6:30 PM. Saturday's and Sunday's games will start at 1:00 PM.

NEXT UP FOR THE DONS: USF has a bit of a break, playing just four games next week. On Tuesday, the Dons start a seven game season closing home stint versus Stanford at 3:00 PM. For the weekend, the Dons will host West Coast Conference foe San Diego for three. Friday will be a 3:00 PM start, with Saturday's and Sunday's first pitches set for 1:00 PM

SCOUTING REPORT - WEEK 11

GAME #45 - PACIFIC TIGERS (8-31)

SCOUTING PACIFIC: After finishing last season with an overall record of 16-43, the Tigers are having another rough year on the diamond. With just eight wins and 31 losses, including 2-13 in the Big West, Pacific has 16 games remaining to try and better last seasons win total. Leading the Tigers at the plate is freshman outfielder Nick Longmire, who is batting .315 (41-130), with three doubles, three triples, two homeruns, 17 RBI and six stolen bases. Pacific's stolen bases leader is junior catcher Joe Oliveira, who has stolen 15 of 17 bases. On the mound, freshman right-hander Tyler Waldron is the only Tiger with two wins (2-5). Waldron has started 10 games, and in 60.1 innings, has struckout 41 batters. Head Coach Ed Sprague is 104-161 in nearly five full seasons in Stockton.

TEAM COMPARISONS - 2008 SEASON STATS
Team	W-L	BA	RUNS	HITS	HR	RBI	BB 	ERA   SO OBA
USF 	25-19	.293 	269 	451 	19	251 	152  	4.76  291 273
PAC	8-31	.251	162	330	14	152	126 	6.72  225 335

LAST MEETINGS: at USF 9, Pacific 1 (3/12/08)

LAST TIME AGAINST THE DONS: San Francisco earned its first home victory of the 2008 season 9-1 over Pacific on Wednesday afternoon. In the friendly confines of Benedetti Diamond, the Dons bats caught fire with 11 hits, including two doubles and a homerun, against a struggling Tigers team. Matt Lujan (1-0) earned his first win as a Don, throwing 5.0 innings and only giving up one earned run off three hits. Lujan struck out four Tigers and did not walk a batter. Joey Railey came up big, going 2-for-4, including his first homerun of the season. Tavo Hall was 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Drew Johnson also had two hits, an RBI, and scored a run. Bobby Ethel doubled. Adding singles in the contest were Mitchell Bialosky, Zach Kim, Kyle Morgan, and Dane Braunecker.

GAME #46 - FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (26-20)

SCOUTING FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs are coming off a 1-4 stint versus Western Athletic Conference foe Reno, including dropping the final three games of the four game series. This meeting between USF and Fresno State is the third and final meeting of the season, and the winner will take the season series 2-1 as both teams have earned one win against the other. At the plate, sophomore infielder Alan Ahmady is batting .382 (65-170) with 11 doubles, one triple, eight homeruns, and a team leading 55 RBI. On the mound, junior right-hander Tanner Scheppers is 7-2, 2.98 ERA, with a conference leading 97 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. Head Coach Mike Batesole is 198-154 in nearly six seasons at Fresno State, and 454-312-1 in nearly 13 years overall.

TEAM COMPARISONS - 2008 SEASON STATS
Team	W-L	BA	RUNS	HITS	HR	RBI	BB 	ERA   SO OBA
USF 	25-19	.293 	269 	451 	19	251 	152	4.76 291
.273
FSU	26-20	.295	333	463	45	288	223	4.65 349
.260 

LAST MEETING: at FSU 5, USF 4 (4/23/08)

LAST TIME AGAINST THE DONS: A solid seven innings from San Francisco starter Evan Fredrickson and a 4-3 lead couldn't hold off Fresno State as the Bulldogs came back to earn the 5-4 victory. USF had a lopsided 13-6 hits advantage, but couldn't capitalize on nine runners left on base. Connor Bernatz had a career high five hits in the contest, just one less than the entire Fresno State lineup. Ryan Lipkin had two hits, including a homerun and two RBI. Mitchell Bialosky also had two hits and an RBI. Bobby Ethel doubled, as did Zach Kim. Joey Railey and Tavo Hall each had singles. Evan Fredrickson left the game after 7.0 innings, holding a 4-3 lead. Fredrickson settled down after allowing three runs in the third. He gave up a double to the first batter of the fourth, but then retired the next nine consecutive batters he faced, before giving up a single in the seventh. Fredrickson allowed the three runs off four hits and six walks, but struck out 12 Bulldogs. The 12 strikeouts are the second double figure count for the Virginia Tech transfer this season. His previous high was 13 against Cal in the Dante Benedetti Classic at AT&T Park on April 1. Alex Kalogrides (3-2) took the loss in relief, allowing two earned runs off two hits, one walk and struck out one Bulldog in 1.0 inning.

GAME #47-49 - GONZAGA BULLDOGS (25-18, 7-7 WCC)

SCOUTING GONZAGA: Last year the Bulldogs enjoyed one of the most memorable seasons in the program's history, including a 33-25 overall record. But the season ended with the Zags narrowly missing out on a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs return 18 letterwinners, including eight starters. The 2008 roster is highlighted by four returning All-West Coast Conference honorees - Brandon Harmon, Jeremy Stumetz, Ryan Wiegand and Shawn Wayt. The Bulldogs currently sit in sixth place in the WCC, just behind the Dons. At the plate, junior first baseman Ryan Wiegand is batting .351 (65-185) with 16 doubles, two triples, team leading nine homeruns, and 53 RBI. His hits, doubles, and RBI are conference leaders. On the mound, freshman right-hander Cody Martin is 3-0, 2.08 ERA, with seven saves, and 40 strikeouts in 20 appearances (two starts). Head Coach Mark Machtolf is 198-154 in nearly six years in Spokane.

TEAM COMPARISONS - 2008 SEASON STATS
Team	W-L	BA	RUNS	HITS	HR	RBI	BB 	ERA   SO OBA
USF 	25-19	.293 	269 	451 	19	251 	152	4.76  291
.273
GON	25-18	.315	322	486	35	295	176	5.89  250
.309

LAST MEETINGS: at USF 4, Gonzaga 2 (4/27/07); Gonzaga 1, at USF 0 (4/28/07); at USF 10, Gonzaga 2 (4/29/07)

LAST TIME AGAINST THE DONS: San Francisco got a big win on Friday afternoon, defeating West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga 4-2 at Benedetti Diamond. Aaron Poreda threw a nine inning gem, allowing only two unearned runs off seven hits, one walk, and recorded six strikeouts. USF smacked 10 hits in the contest with Jonnie Knoble overtaking 15th place on the Dons all-time hits chart. Knoble had three hits on the day, giving him 171 for his career. Joey Railey had two hits, an RBI and scored a run. Brian Chavez added his team leading 13th double and an RBI. Jon Norfolk and Mitchell Bialosky each doubled. In a pure pitchers dual, San Francisco couldn't push across a run as it fell to Gonzaga 1-0 in WCC play at Benedetti Diamond on Saturday afternoon. Jason Dufloth earned the loss, but did stretch his scoreless innings pitched to a career high 12.1 innings. Dufloth previously threw 5.0 scoreless last weekend at Portland, and continued with 7.1 versus the Bulldogs. He allowed eight hits and recorded six strikeouts without walking a batter. Clayton Mortensen threw a complete game shutout. Mortensen scattered four hits and struck out 10 Dons without walking a batter. Jonnie Knoble had two hits, including a double, giving him 173 for his career. San Francisco took the series victory on Sunday with a 10-2 win over Gonzaga. USF managed 17 hits - tied for third most on the season. Jonnie Knoble continued his offensive onslaught against the Zags, smashing three more hits for a career total of 176. Matt Lieb hit his first career homerun as a Don in a 2-for-5 day, including four RBI and two runs scored. Zach Kim increased his team leading batting average to .397 on a 4-for-4 day with a triple, an RBI, a run, and a stolen base. Chris Bacigalupi and Brian Chavez each went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the contest. Tommy Peale (3-1) earned the victory, allowing two earned runs off seven hits in 7.2 innings. Peale recorded three strikeouts and did not walk a batter

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. With a team leading 54 on the season, Railey now has 215 for his career, good for 7th place all time. He needs two to pass Jermaine Clark (1995-97/216) and Joe Jacobitz (2002-04/216) for sixth place. Also, with 102 career walks, and counting, Railey is fifth all time on the walks chart. He needs just nine more to pass Ted Langowski (1988-91/110) for third place.

Connor Bernatz JUMPS INTO BATTING LEAD: Freshman outfielder Connor Bernatz remains in the batting lead at .370 (54-146). Bernatz has eight doubles, one triple, two homeruns, 25 RBI, and three stolen bases. In five games last week, Bernatz batted .364 with eight hits, including five in the Fresno State game alone.

Tavo Hall TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS IN CONFERENCE: Senior shortstop Tavo Hall is playing exceptionally well in West Coast Conference games this season. Through 15 games, Hall is batting .327 (16-49) with a WCC leading nine doubles and 14 RBI. Overall, Hall is batting .258 (42-163) with 13 doubles, one homerun, 26 RBI and a team leading 11 stolen bases. His 13 doubles are a season high, and he is just five off his career total of 18.

Mitchell Bialosky DOMINATES BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL: Senior first basmen/RHP Mitchell Bialosky dominated last week, both at the plate and on the mound. In five game, Bialosky batted .381 (8-21), with a three run homerun and four RBI. On the mound, he made three relief appearances, going 2-0, 0.00 ERA, with eight strikeouts and just one walk in 5.2 innings.

Chris Escobar EARNS FIRST WCC HIT: Freshman infielder Christ Escobar earned his first and second career hits during conference play in Sunday's 5-1 victory over Portland at Benedetti Diamond. When given playing chances this season, Escobar has proven reliable. In 14 games (three starts), Escobar is batting .357 (5-14) with three walks, and two runs scored.

Zach Kim DOUBLES AND SCORES: Junior outfielder Zach Kim is tied for second on the team with 12 doubles, four of which came in five games last week. Kim leads the Dons with 33 runs scored.

Evan Fredrickson IS STRIKEOUTS LEADER: With 75 strikeouts this season, senior left-hander Evan Fredrickson leads the Dons and is third in conference. The last time a Dons pitcher had 75 strikeouts in a season was 2006, when Aaron Poreda finished with 75. Fredrickson has a chance to catch Nick Pereira's 93 strikeouts from the 2005 season

DONS DOUBLE UP: USF has smacked 101 doubles this season, tying their total from 2005. The Dons had 107 in 2004, easily beatable this season. Also possibly reachable is the 127 doubles the Dons hit in 2000.

HOME SWEET HOME: USF typically plays well at Benedetti Diamond, and after losing its 2008 home opener 8-6 to San Jose State on March 4th, the Dons won 12 straight home games before falling to Portland 5-2 on April 26. But USF bounced back and took a 5-1 victory the next day. At Benedetti Diamond this year, the Dons are batting .343 with 182 hits (51 doubles, five triples, and eight homeruns), and 111 RBI. Pitchers have a 3.38 ERA with 121 strikeouts and are holding opponents to a .222 batting average.

USF IN WEST COAST CONFERENCE STANDINGS: As a team, USF is second in the conference with 47 stolen bases, and third with a 4.76 ERA. Individually, 10 Dons are among the top ten in 12 different categories. Senior LHP Matt Baugh holds the most spots with five. He's first in innings pitched (79.0), tied for first with two complete games, tied for second with 10 games started, tied for eighth with 48 strikeouts, and ninth with a 3.76 ERA. Junior LHP Evan Fredrickson holds three spots, including second with a .215 opponents batting average, tied for second with 10 game starts, and third in strikeouts (75). Freshman LHP Matt Lujan is sixth in ERA (3.36) and ninth in innings pitched (59.0). Rounding out the pitchers, freshman LHP Garrett Luippold is tied for second with 21 appearances, and senior RHP Mitchell Bialosky is tied for fifth with three saves. At the plate, senior OF Kyle Morgan is eighth in both walks (24) and RBI (39). Freshman OF Connor Bernatz is fifth with a .373 batting average. Sophomore C Ryan Lipkin also falls into the batting average category with a .362 (eighth). Senior SS Tavo Hall is tied for fifth with 11 stolen bases and senior 2B Joey Railey is tied for sixth with 25 free passes.