USD Ranked 5th in Rivals Preseason Poll

FROM PRESS RELEASE
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of San Diego baseball team has been ranked No. 5 in the Rivals.com preseason top-25 poll it was announced Monday morning. This marks the highest preseason ranking in the history of the program.

San Diego is coming off the heals of the best season in program history with a 43-18 record, the first 40-win season in the history of USD baseball. The Toreros won their third West Coast Conference championship, received a program-best No. 4 national ranking and a program-first No. 8 national seed in the NCAA Regionals.

Returning for the Toreros is three All-American pitchers, in second-team All-Americans and Team USA members, Brian Matusz (10-3, 2.85 ERA, 163 SO) and Josh Romanski (9-1, 3.05 ERA, along with closer AJ Griffin (6-2, 2.70 ERA, 11 Saves), who has named a freshman All-American this past season. USD will also welcome back first-team All-WCC honoree Matt Couch to the mound after a stellar junior campaign posting a 9-2 record with a 3.86 ERA.

The Toreros will also have returning two more All-WCC performers in senior catcher Logan Gelbrich and senior second baseman Kevin Hansen. In 2007, Gelbrich hit .316 with 67 hits 16 doubles, four home runs and 38 RBI. Hansen posted career-best numbers as he hit .316 with 71 hits 11 doubles and 34 RBI.

With three recruits who ranked among the top 100 prospects for the 2007 draft, no recruiting class can match San Diego’s, according to Baseball America, for high-impact talent. Kyle Blair, Victor Sanchez and Matt Thompson have already proven ready to face elite college competition, as Thompson ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Alaska League this summer, while Sanchez and Blair were the top two prospects in the Northwoods League.

The Toreros will begin play on Feb. 22 in a game against cross-town rival San Diego State University at Tony Gwynn Stadium with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.