Looking ahead to USD baseball

After a subpar 23-32 season last year, the Toreros are prepared to turn things around in 2019

Anderson Haigler / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

On a miserable February afternoon that featured heavy rain and gusty winds, the University of San Diego baseball team didn’t cancel practice. The tarp was on the infield, but so were the Toreros, taking batting practice in the rain with waterlogged tennis balls. An unconventional approach, no doubt, but a serious and focused effort nonetheless, with USD baseball head coach Rich Hill throwing to his players and offering the same coaching he would if it were a more typical sunny San Diego Saturday. With the first pitch of their 2019 season under two weeks away, USD was determined to get their work in one way or another. A testament, perhaps, to the sense of determination the Toreros possess to turn things around following a disappointing 23-32 finish last season. 

“We have a saying here, it’s three words: adapt, improvise, and overcome,” Hill said. “We only have so many days to practice before the opener, and there’s always something you can do, there’s so much to work on.”

Hill’s team has been working to turn things around with the help of two new assistants: pitching coach Matthew Florer and hitting coach Brock Ungricht, both of whom were hired last June. According to both Hill and his players, the transition process with the two new coaches has been nearly seamless. 

“With the new coaches, it feels like they’ve been around for years,” infielder Paul Kunst said. “They’re high energy, they’re a younger group than what we’ve had, so they understand where we’re at.”

Though USD gained two new coaches in the offseason, they also lost several talented players to Major League Baseball (MLB)’s draft. Utility player Jay Schuyler, outfielder Brhet Bewley, and pitchers Nick Sprengel and Paul Richan had their names called by the Cincinnati Reds, the Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Chicago Cubs, respectively. As a result, the Toreros will have some significant gaps to fill in their lineup. However, Hill believes that USD will be well-equipped to succeed in their absence.

“It’s the same old story with USD baseball,” Hill said. “We’ve sent more guys into the pros than anyone, certainly in our conference. We expected to lose those guys, so it wasn’t a real shock. We’re like emergency room doctors here — we get these guys for 36 months and we gotta make them as good as we can possibly make them, then send them on their way. So, we’re ready.”

Without Schuyler, Bewley, Sprengel, and Richan, the Toreros’ roster will feature a diverse mix of talent, with 13 first years and nine seniors on the team, a combination that Hill hopes will lead to success.

“It’s a very eclectic mix,” Hill said. “The older guys really haven’t played a lot, or had a ton of success, and that’s why they’re still here as seniors. We’re anticipating that this is the time for them to break out. We have some very talented younger guys, but they’re just inexperienced and unproven. The talent level is there, but the fact that they haven’t proved anything is also there.”

This lack of proven talent leaves multiple question marks for the Toreros, most notably on the pitching side of things. 

“I think the number one thing we need to improve on is pitching,” Hill said. “We’ve made some strides, it is still a work in progress. We’re still trying to determine roles, and go from there.”

Coming off of a 2018 season in which his pitching staff posted a West Coast Conference (WCC)-worst ERA of nearly 6.00, Hill stated that he will look to junior lefty Chris Murphy to lead the way.

“I think Chris Murphy has earned that distinction right away early in the season,” Hill said. “Anthony Donatella has been very steady, if not spectacular on some days. Travis Kuhn is kind of a high-energy, one inning guy, he’s been up to 95 miles-per-hour in scrimmages. If he can harness that, he has a chance to be good at the back end of games.”

In addition to Murphy, several fresh faces for the Toreros will also contribute on the mound.

“We really like Josh Hendrickson, the Aussie, who was drafted last summer out of junior college,” Hill said. “And we like Grady Miller, who was a Friday night guy at Portland two years ago.”

Hill also noted that he expects high profile recruits and that first years Jake Miller, Noah Owen, Cade Brown, and Jack Dolak have a chance to compete for innings.

Offensively, the Toreros will have a bit more proven experience, returning several players from their starting nine that was among the WCC’s best in batting average, runs batted in, and extra base hits last season.

“We have three freshman All-Americans returning in Tora Otsuka, Shane Mcguire, and Adam Kerner, and I really love those guys, I love their approach, the way they work, and their skill set,” Hill said. “Paul Kunst has arguably been our best guy for the last two years, and he’s back as well.”

With this varied roster, USD will begin their 2019 season with a formidable slate of non-conference games that includes match-ups against Cal State Fullerton, Oklahoma, Texas Christian University (TCU), and Coastal Carolina University, as well as games in the Seattle Baseball Showcase, which is set to be played in T-Mobile Park, the home of MLB’s Seattle Mariners. A challenging non-conference schedule is nothing new for the Toreros, however. A quick look back at the early part of USD’s 2018 schedule shows that for better or for worse, the Toreros are accustomed to playing a rigorous set of games outside the WCC.

“Nothing can be like last year because that was the number one ranked non-conference schedule in the country,” Hill said. “Whoever made that schedule, I don’t know how smart they were — that being me. This year, it’s along those lines with the likes of TCU at home, Oklahoma at home, on the road for the Seattle Classic. It’s daunting as usual.”

A daunting early season schedule, indeed. Though his team went just 11-17 in non-conference play last year, Hill said that his team will be better prepared to succeed through their non-WCC slate in 2019.

“I think our pitching staff is deeper this year to be able to handle the rigors of that,” Hill said.

As challenging as the Toreros’ first 21 games may be, their conference competition may be even tougher. Finishing eighth out of 10 WCC teams last year with a 12-15 record in conference, the Toreros certainly have some work to do, and it won’t be an easy road back to contention.

“I’d rather play anybody in the country non-conference than anybody in conference,” Hill said. “That’s how much respect I have for the conference.”

More specifically speaking, Hill identified USD’s main challenges in the WCC to come in the form of Gonzaga University, Saint Mary’s University, Pepperdine University, and Loyola Marymount University.

“Gonzaga’s pitching top to bottom is as good as I’ve ever seen it, and I’ve been in here for 26 years,” Hill said. “Saint Mary’s, same thing. Pepperdine is picked to finish third, and they won it last year, and they have everybody back. Loyola is kind of a sleeper to me because they have some young pitchers that have really blossomed.”

Despite this plethora of pitching in the WCC, Hill said that he is confident in how his team will stack up.

“I think that we’ve got the best offense and defense top to bottom in the conference again,” Hill said. “I don’t think anyone can compete with the middle of our field — catcher, second base, shortstop, and center field. But some of the other teams have better depth at pitching.”

Regardless of the competition ahead of them, the Toreros are determined to see better results than they did in their at-times disappointing 2018 season. The Toreros’ contingent of older, more experienced players will lead the way in this effort. Kunst explained how the team’s veteran leadership has taken charge in the offseason.

“We’ve had a lot of people step up this year in the fall,” Kunst said. “We have a bunch of older guys, a bunch of people that have been around here a long time who know what we did bad last year, know what we need to work on. Everyone’s keeping each other accountable, whether you’re young or old, everyone’s on the same wavelength on working together and working hard. And kind of knowing what we did in the past, but flushing it. It’s a new year and we plan on having a good season this year.”

Left-handed pitcher Chris Murphy added that the team will place an emphasis on their mental game, especially with staying positive.

“I think our culture has changed since last year,” Murphy said. “Last year it got kind of negative towards the end, and there’s some things we can agree on that we want to change, and hopefully we’ve done that. Keeping a positive outlook even when you lose a ballgame, I think rolling off of that will be important.”

As he reflected on a busy offseason for the Toreros, Hill agreed with his players’ sentiments.

“The leadership within the team has really stepped up,” Hill said. “Guys weren’t happy with the way things went (last season) and they’re really motivated for this year.”

The Toreros open their 2019 season on Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. versus the Wagner University Seahawks. Friday’s game will be the first of a three-game series against the Seahawks, with afternoon games on both Saturday and Sunday as well. Tickets are free of charge for all USD students with a valid Torero ID card.