Torero Athletics: Baseball Enters National Rankings; Top Efforts in Men's Crew, Softball, Men's Tennis, Track

When the University of San Diego baseball team plays against San Diego State in a 6 p.m. game tonight at Fowler Park, there will be a little more than just a game between cross-town rivals in the balance.

It will be the first time this season that USD plays as a team that is now ranked amongst the best college baseball teams in the nation. Following a week in which USD traveled to New Orleans and swept a four-game series at Tulane, the Toreros enter this week as the No. 25 team in the D1Baseball.com poll, the NCBWA rankings and they are No. 26 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll.

The recognition is always nice and it marks the 12th season in a row in which the program has been ranked or received votes in national polls.

"It's one thing to break the seal on the top 25, but to sustain that type of success at a non-BCS school for over a decade is awe-inspiring," USD Head Coach Rich Hill said. "It feels like 2006 all over again. I'm so proud of this group. All of Torero Nation is part of this!"

Indeed, the 2017 USD team is off to a 10-3 season start and that includes winning nine of its last 10 games. The only blemishes are two losses to Vanderbilt opening weekend and then against Michigan at Dodger Stadium.

In addition to the team’s great play of late, including another Torero baseball West Coast Conference player of the week honored — sophomore utility player Jay Schuyler hit .529 with four RBI and four doubles last week — the early success helps prepare USD for a week like this one.

The Toreros will face the Aztecs tonight in a midweek game that’s also USD Alumni and Friends Day from 5-7 p.m. In addition to a taco station and drink tickets for $15, USD Athletics will honor recent WCC Hall of Honor inductee, former baseball head coach John “JC” Cunningham.

USD then hosts its first WCC series of the year, against Portland, this Friday through Sunday. Game times Friday and Saturday are 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Softball: Team Posts a 4-2 Record; Silveyra Honored

The USD softball team notched four wins including three in last weekend's Gaucho Classic at UC Santa Barbara. Following a 3-1 win against Detroit Mercy at the USD Softball Complex March 8, the Toreros topped George Washington 8-4 in eight innings to take its tournament-opening contest. That was followed by a 5-4 loss to Sacred Heart to finish play on March 10.

USD then beat George Washington 6-4 on March 11 and then split its final two tournament games on March 12 with a 9-1 triumph over Northern Colorado and then a 7-4 loss to tournament host UCSB.

Sara Silveyra, USD's freshman shortstop, claimed West Coast Conference Player of the Week honors, hitting .615 (8 for 13 in the UCSB tournament. She scored five runs, had a double, a home run and four RBI. She also had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 10 putouts and 11 assists.

USD (9-10) returns home for a 5 p.m. game against Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday and then hosts Cal State Bakersfield for a three-game weekend series March 18-19 at noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Men, Women's Tennis: Teams Fall in Road Matches 

The men and women's tennis teams each played road matches, their first in a while, on March 9. The same result emerged, in Seattle for the men it was a 4-1 loss at No. 42 Washington and for the women, a 5-2 defeat at UC Santa Barbara.

The women's team then lost 5-2 at Long Beach State on March 11. The loss dropped the women's record to 4-7. USD's women's team looks to rebound at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday as it hosts BYU in its first West Coast Conference match of the season. They also host Dartmouth on Saturday.

For men’s tennis, the highlight in its loss to the Huskies was claiming the doubles point and senior Filip Vittek setting the school record for doubles victories. Vittek and fellow senior Joshua Page defeated Washington's Enzo Sommer and Wendell Watanabe, 6-2, at No. 1 doubles to give Vittek his 78th career win, surpassing former teammate and standout Clark Spinosa. The Toreros' No. 3 doubles team of Alexandros Araouzos and Guus Koevermans won 7-5 to clinch the doubles point.

The Torero men (6-4) now prepare for the seventh annual San Diego Spring Break Tournament, Thursday through Saturday. No. 25 Oregon, Iowa, Harvard, Drake University, No. 30 Tulane, Arizona join co-hosts USD and San Diego State. On Thursday, USD faces Drake at 2 p.m. Match outcomes will determine the rest of the schedule.

Women's Track: Personal Best Times in Season-Opening Meet

Eleven Torero women runners notched personal-best times in the 5K event during the women’s track team season debut meet, the Oxy Distance Carnival, at Occidental College in Los Angeles on March 10.

Sarah Kapple, Lindsay Benster, Cassidy Kuhn, Hope McLaughlin, Zani Moore, Mary Tenuta, Ally Roessling, Erin Duncan, Haley Shipway, Olivia Gonzalez and Erika Brodow each set new individual times while running in different heats and sections. Kapple won her 5k heat in a time of 17 minutes, 28.62 seconds in Section 2. Benster was seventh in 17:41.57 in Section 2. McLaughlin led a large group of Torero runners in Section 3 with a fifth-place heat finish in 18:29.60.

And although running unattached — USD does not field an official men's track team — several USD cross country standouts, including Liam Burke, performed solidly. Burke  set both a personal best and a school record time in the 10K with a 31:27.35 mark. Patrick Bruce and Mitch Manis also had personal-best times in their 5k section races.

The next meet is the Aztec Distance Carnival March 24 at San Diego State. 

Men's Rowing: School Record Mark for Varsity 8

The Newport Beach Regatta on Sunday proved to be a great spotlight for the USD men's crew program. The Toreros earned two first-place finishes, set a school record in the Varsity Eight, and turned in a strong, overall showing on March 12.

The varsity eight race saw USD outduel Orange Coast College down the stretch to win by just over a second in 5 minutes, 55 seconds to set a school record. The team consisted of Connor Olson, Nick Watson, Nick Bea, Parker Danz, Jack Pokalsky, Sam Stephens, Pierce Salamack, Konrad Altvater and coxswain Kai Morse.

"This was an impressive performance from all three crews, but the varsity eights race was a real standout," USD Head Coach Brooks Dagman said. "The final 500 meters was a serious dual between the host team from OCC and us. Knowing we can handle a late attack from a really competitive opponent is a confidence builder. The fact that we set a school record of 5:55 is an added bonus."

In addition to the varsity eights, USD's novice four of Simon Finnie, Mike Darby, Evan Nassar, Max O'Toole and coxswain Sarah Goh won its race, beating a field with teams from UCLA, San Diego State, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State.

The second varsity eight team of Luke Uetrecht, Jack Posthauer, Owen Chase, Evan Ferree, Griffin Daniel, Sam Jones, Luke Walbeck, James Davenport and coxswain Will Graf, finished third behind UC Santa Barbara and OCC.

USD returns to action this Friday and Saturday at Mission Bay against Gonzaga, Santa Clara and UC San Diego at 7 a.m. both days. 

Golf: USD Co-Hosts Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic

Today is the final day of the two-day Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic, as USD’s men’s golf team and San Diego State co-host this tournament at the San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista.

After two rounds on March 13, the Toreros entered the final round in 15th place in the team standings at 608 (302-306) and Nathan Zhao was the top USD individual at 147 to tie for 41st place. He shot rounds of 75 and 72 on Monday.

The field consists of seven Top 50 teams, including first-day leader, No. 18 Texas (570), and No. 48 New Mexico and No. 29 Mississippi, who round out the top three spots.

Following today's concluding round, the USD men's golf team will then play in the Arizona State-hosted Thunderbird Invitational at Tempe's Karsten Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday.

To access all USD Athletics news, scores and information, visit the USD Athletics' website and follow USD sports on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.