For Email Marketing you can trust

USF DONS
USF baseball on quest for a championship

By Stacy Hicklin

The 2011 baseball season is officially under way on the campus of the University of San Francisco. The Dons begin their 13th season under the direction of head coach Nino Giarratano.

USF finds itself eager to resume its journey to compete for the program's first West Coast Conference championship since the 2006 season.

The Dons ended the 2010 season with a 28-28 overall record, which marked the eighth consecutive year of totaling 25 or more wins. USF returns 24 letter-winners and 12 of its 15 pitchers. Five of its eight position players are back, with a roster that boasts nine seniors.

On the mound

USF returns nearly three-fourths of its total innings from last year.

Senior left-handed pitcher Matt Lujan will step into the Friday starter role after the graduation of eight-game winner Doug Murry. Sophomore right-hander Kyle Zimmer is set to be the Saturday starter.

The Sunday starting role will go to senior right-hander Matt Hiserman. Sean Burns, Jordan Haseltine and Jonathan Abramson will handle the final innings, with lefties Garrett Luippold and Jordan Remer to pitch in middle relief or start midweek games.

Behind the plate

Set to replace three-year starting catcher Ryan Lipkin is redshirt senior Travis Higgs, who has waited patiently in the wings for his chance at a starting role. Junior Mason Morioka will also see time at catcher.

Experience in the infield

The Dons return two first-team West Coast Conference infielders in senior third baseman Stephen Yarrow and junior first baseman Nik Balog, along with sophomore second baseman Jason Mahood, who was voted onto the conference's all-freshman team.

Junior Adam Clear has emerged as the favorite to replace shortstop Derek Poppert, whom the Dons lost to graduation (and to the draft — he was taken in the 30th round by the Seattle Mariners).

Senior leadership in the outfield

Back to patrol the outfield again this season are seniors Connor Bernatz and Pete Lavin. Bernatz was a first-team all-WCC selection last year in right field and Lavin was an honorable mention selection in center field.

Four players are competing for that left field spot, including Graeme Agate, Tom Barry, Jared Denham and transfer Ted LeMasters.

At bat

USF returns three players in the top four spots of the lineup, with a slight shuffling of the order. After leading off last season, Lavin will move to the three hole, while Connor Bernatz moves from the bottom third of the lineup to the leadoff spot. Mahood will bat second again this season and Yarrow stays at cleanup. Tom Barry will be the team's designated hitter.

Strength of schedule

San Francisco's schedule consists of 26 road games, 22 home contests and seven neutral-site games. The Dons will play 31 of their 55 games within 84 miles of the USF campus this season.

National collegiate baseball website Boyd's World has ranked the Dons' schedule as the 24th most difficult in the country, with the nonconference portion of the schedule ranked seventh most difficult.

San Francisco kicked off its West Coast Conference schedule by hosting Saint Mary's for a series on April 8-10 at Benedetti Diamond. Including the Saint Mary's series, the Dons host four WCC homestands.

"The WCC has been tough — it's a great conference," Giarratano said. "The University of San Diego has been the dominant team in the conference over the last three or four years and unfortunately we have to go to USD to play, which is always a tough place. And we have to go to Gonzaga, which is an extremely difficult place to play, and it's tough to get wins at Portland."

The Dons know it's a rough road, but as usual, they're ready for the challenge in '11.