USD Baseball 2009

DESTINATION: OMAHA After reaching the Long Beach Regional championship game and setting a program-re– cord 44 wins a year ago, the Toreros are locked, loaded and ready to make their inaugural trip to Omaha. He skyrocketed up many charts with an outstanding summer with the Chatham A'sof the Cape Cod Base– ball League whe re he only went 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA in seven appearances with si x starts. He only allowed seven walks in his 37.1 innings on the mound with 32 strikeouts.

San Diego head coach Rich Hill has the Tore– ros not only focused on winning its third consec– utive West Coast Conference championship, and fifth in the last seven years, but also on winning a national championship. "I think we have the ingredients to win not only another WCC championship, but a national championship as well," stated Hill. "It is our teams goal to be playing in Omaha at seasons end for a national championship." In a nutshell, the 2009 Toreros will feature a young but talented batting order, a typically solid San Diego defense and one of the nation's best pitching staffs.An always heavyweight non– conference schedule should help prepare the Toreros for the rigors of aWest Coast Conference slate. Pitching The 2009 Toreros will again feature one the nations best pitching staffs headlined by Team USA member and preseason All -American closer AJ Griffin. Griffin set the program single-season record for saves this past season with 14, set the career save record with 25 and won a gold medal with Team USA over the summer. "We feel really good about having a lead in a game, because we have a guy like AJ Griffin who can come in and close things out for us," said Hill. Anchoring down the Toreros starting rotation will be sophomore right-hander Kyle Blair, who is coming off a season in which he set he fresh– man strikeout record with 99 and posted an 8-4 record. Blair also could appear as a designated hitter for the Toreros this season, as the coaching staff has been impressed with Blair's bat during the fall. USD's Saturday pitcher to begin the year will be sophomore lefty Sammy Solis. Solis had a solid freshmen campaign with the Toreros by recording a 3-1 record with a 3.83 ERA in 17 ap– pearances including seven starts. He ended up striking out 42 batters in only 49.1 innings of work. He also allowed only 12 walks on the year.

On Sundays, the Toreros will look to junior right– hander Matt Thomson . In 2008,Thomson spentthe season mostly in the bullpen making 16 appear– ances with one start. He was able to go 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA including two saves. Thomson then spent the 2008 summer in the Cape Cod League playing for the Orleans Cardinals where he showed his true value. He had a perfect record of 4-0 with an ERA of 1.66. He ended up starting six games while making 12 appearances for a total of 48.2 innings. He was named to the CCBL All-Star game and to the 2008 All -Cape Cod League Team. "Starting pitching will again be the strength of our team with Sammy Solis, Kyle Blair and Matt Thom– son, all three of them had outstanding summers in the Cape,and we are excited about what they can do for us this season," said Hill. The return of fifth -year starter Matt Couch also has the Torero coaching staff excited. Couch, who is on pace to make a return for the Toreros mid sea– son, will figure into the Torero starting / relief duties. Couch is a two-time AII -WCC performer and is ex– pected to be the x-factor for the Toreros. Relief pitching for USD is also deep for coach Hill, as sophomore Darrin Campbell makes his return on the mound as a possible set-up pitcher or mid– week starter. Campbell posted a 1-0 record with a 4.01 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 24.2 innings of work this past season . "I th ink Darrin Campbell has a chance to be spe– cial. He just hasn't had the opportunity to pitch be– cause of injuries, " stated Hill. A newcomer who could see time as a starter as well is freshman Chris Jensen, who comes to the To– reros from Mesquite High School in Gilbert,Ariz. Jen– sen posted a 7-3 record with a 3.22 ERA, was named first-team All -Region and helped lead his team to the state championships as a senior and as a junior he posted a 8-3 record with a 1.90 ERA and earned an Arizona Republic Honorable Mention. Another new face for the Toreros who has a chance at making an impact is Orange Coast College transfer Matt Hauser. Hauser comes to the Toreros