The University of San Diego faces Oregon at noon Friday to begin their NCAA Regional at UC Santa Barbara’s Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
The No. 2-seeded Toreros (40-13, 20-4 WCC) clinched the West Coast Conference’s automatic bid. Also in the regional are the top-seeded host UCSB and No. 4 seed Fresno State.
The USD-Oregon matchup will be televised live on ESPNU. The regional winner will be determined Sunday, with one more game set for Monday if necessary.
The berth marks the 10th time in program history that USD has appeared in a regional after a run of eight postseason appearances from 2002-13 and a return in 2022.
Playing two years ago in the Corvallis regional, the Toreros opened with a 3-2 win over perennial powerhouse Vanderbilt, before falling to host Oregon State and Vanderbilt in a rematch.
No. 3 seed Oregon (37-18, 19-11 Pac-12) and San Diego played a four-game series against one another in both 2022 and 2023.
In 2022, USD opened up its schedule against the Ducks and took three of four at Fowler Park. But Oregon swept the Toreros last year at PK Park in Eugene. USD is 5-11 against Oregon all-time.
After securing the seventh WCC regular-season championship in program history earlier this month, top-seeded San Diego swept its way through the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas, taking home the tournament title by beating No. 2-seed Portland in back-to-back games, including the championship, by scores of 7-5 and 8-6.
USD placed an event-high four players on the WCC Baseball All-Tournament Team, with Justin Decriscio, Angelo Peraza, Ivran Romero, and Austin Smith all getting the nod.
The conclusion of the regular season also saw USD dominate the WCC’s awards, with Brock Ungricht named Coach of the Year, Jakob Christian, WCC Player of the Year, Logan Reddemann, WCC Freshman of the Year, and Ariel Armas, WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
