CSUDH Baseball Weekly Release
March 27, 2002

THIS WEEK IN TOROS BASEBALL
Mar. 28 CSUDH vs. Cal Poly Pomona Dennis Gilbert Field, 2:30 PM
Mar. 29 CSUDH vs. Cal Poly Pomona Dennis Gilbert Field, 2:30 PM
Mar. 30 CSUDH @ Cal Poly Pomona (DH) Scolinos Field, 12 Noon

WHAT'S ON TAP: After winning four of five games last week, including a 4-game CCAA series sweep over San Francisco State, the Toros will take on Cal Poly Pomona in a four-game series beginning on Thursday at LA Southwest College. The Toros are now 20-12-1 overall and 11-7 in league play.

TOROS DROP 10-9 DECISION TO BIOLA: The Toros were not able to recover from a 6-run deficit early as they dropped a 10-9 decision to Biola in La Mirada. Down 10-6 heading into the ninth, CSUDH rallied for 3 runs to make it 10-9. However, the Toros could not plate the equalizer en route to the non-conference loss. Leading the team at the plate was 3B Damien Lopez going 2-4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored including a 2-run homer in the third inning. RF Joe Gevas also hit a bomb, a solo shot, in the fifth. RHP Ramon Mata (1-2) suffered the loss lasting only 1 inning allowing 6 runs on 5 hits. RHP Fernando Varela and LHP Raul Claros combined to pitch the final 7 innings.

TOROS BREAK EIGHT RECORDS IN SERIES OPENER AGAINST SFSU: The Toros broke eight school records during its 28-6 rout of San Francisco State in the opening of the four-game series last Friday. CSUDH powered 7 home runs, scored 28 times, had 28 hits, registered 56 total bases, had 56 at-bats, knocked in 21 runs and had a 22-run margin of victory. Joe Gevas and Damien Lopez also tied the mark for runs scored with four each. Gevas and Lopez led the squad with four hits each including two home runs apiece. Gevas' was a bomb travelling an estimated 540' beyond the right field wall. Lopez and 1B Danny Jacobs led the squad with 4 RBI each. 2B David Keesee, LF Jason Pruitt and CF Mike Milstead also had homers in the game. CSUDH hit three home runs in the first and third innings. RHP Chris Ingstad (5-2) earned the win pitching 7 innings allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, on 13 hits.

TOROS TAKE SECOND GAME OF SERIES 11-6: The Toros broke a 5-5 tie with a 3-run fifth inning to go on for the 11-6 victory on Saturday. C Edgar Esqueda's 2-run double highlighted the inning and put the Toros ahead for good. Cal State Dominguez Hills blasted five more home runs in the game, including two by Danny Jacobs. DH Frank Perez, Pruitt and Lopez also hit round-trippers for the Toros. Pruitt led the squad with 3 hits while four others had 2 hits each. LHP Steve Ressa (1-0) pitched the final 4-2/3 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 8 batters to earn the win.

TOROS SHOCK GATORS IN GAME THREE 10-9: In a game that was resumed on Sunday due to darkness, the Toros scored 4 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to shock San Francisco State 10-9. Trailing 9-6, the Toros pushed across 4 runs on two hits and an error. 1B Frank Perez started it all off with a single. He advanced to third on an error which put runners on the corners. Edgar Esqueda, who hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to give CSUDH a 6-5 lead, was hit by a pitch to load the bases. An out later, Jason Pruitt drew an RBI walk to make it 9-7. DH Jose Montes then scored from third on a wild pitch making it 9-8. David Keesee then hit a 2-2 pitch to center field for the game-winning hit. LHP Brad Allen (1-1) earned the win in relief tossing the final inning of no-hit ball.

CSUDH SWEEPS SERIES WITH 11-8 WIN: Cal State Dominguez Hills pulled out the broom to earn the CCAA series sweep with an 11-8 victory in the series finale. Down 4-3 in the fourth inning, the Toros took the lead for good on a wild pitch and a 2-run double by DH Tony Marquez. CSUDH added two more runs in the fifth on a 2-run double by Joe Gevas making it 8-4. The Toros then built an 11-4 cushion in the sixth inning on a run-scoring single by Edgar Esqueda followed by a two-run double by SS Eric Pringle. The Gators made it interesting in the eighth scoring four runs trimming the lead to 11-8, but that was as close as they would get. Steve Ressa came on in the ninth and slammed the door to earn his second save of the year. Starting RHP Aldo Silva (6-3) registered the win with a gutty performance. Silva went the first 8 innings allowing 8 runs, 6 earned, on 12 hits.

LOPEZ NAMED RAWLINGS/CCAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Damien Lopez has been named the Rawlings California Collegiate Athletic Association Baseball Player of the Week for the week of Mar. 18-24 as announced by the league office. Lopez, a senior from Fairfield, CA, powered the Toros to a 4-1 record last week, including a four-game CCAA sweep of San Francisco State. He hit .444 (8-18) with 3 doubles and 4 home runs for an impressive 1.278 slugging percentage, and added 12 runs scored, 10 runs batted in and 2 stolen bases in as many attempts. Lopez produced a .542 on-base percentage for the week. He opened the week with a double and a 3-run home run, 2 runs and 3 RBI in a 10-9 loss at Biola. Lopez, a former player at San Francisco State, battered his former team in the series opener, going 4-5 with a double, 2 home runs, a school record-tying 4 runs scored and 4 RBI in a 28-6 rout over SFSU. He then hit his third homer of the series to lead the Toros to an 11-6 win in game two.

LEADING THE TOROS: The Toros are 20-12-1 and 11-7 in league play after last weekend's sweep over San Francisco State. CSUDH has now won four straight and 11 of its past 13 games. C Edgar Esqueda leads the CCAA in hitting with a .431 batting average. He also leads the Toros with 29 RBI and 12 doubles on the year. DH Frank Perez follows hitting .357 and is second on the squad with 41 hits. RF Joe Gevas is third on the crew with a .343 average and leads the squad with 16 extra-base hits including a team-high 6 HR. 3B Damien Lopez and 1B Tony Marquez are above the .300 mark hitting .311 and .308 respectively. As a team, the Toros are hitting at a .292 clip. On the mound, RHP Chris Ingstad (5-2) leads the starters with a 3.40 ERA in 53 innings pitched. RHP Rick Moore (3-2) follows with a 3.80 ERA in 8 starts and is tied for the staff lead with 2 complete games. RHP Aldo Silva (6-3) leads the Toros in wins and has registered a 4.53 ERA in a staff-best 53-2/3 innings pitched. LHP Steve Ressa (1-0) leads the team out of the bullpen with a 1.83 ERA in 10 appearances.

BOMBS AWAY: In the first three games of the Toros series against San Francisco State, CSUDH hit more home runs than they have so far this entire season. Coming into the series, the Toros had hit 11 HR in 29 games. In game one, CSUDH hit a record 7 home runs then followed that performance with a 6 home runs on Saturday. The Toros now have 24 home runs on the year.

THIS WEEK'S STARTERS ON THE HILL: Junior RHP Chris Ingstad (5-2) will start the first game of the Cal Poly Pomona series on Thursday followed by junior RHP Rick Moore (3-2) on Friday. Junior RHP Aldo Silva (6-3) will start the first game of the twinbill on Saturday followed by junior RHP Don Bracken (2-2).

SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Coming into the 2002 campaign, coach Wing was counting on the senior leadership of catcher Edgar Esqueda. So far, Edqueda has not disappointed. He leads the conference with an impressive .431 batting average and is sixth with 29 RBI. Edqueda ranks fourth in the league with a .657 slugging percentage and on-base percentage (.496). He also is third in the CCAA with 12 doubles. Even more importantly is his leadership behind the plate. He handles a pitching staff that ranks fifth with a 4.10 ERA.

CHIPPING AWAY: Sophomore SS Eric Pringle had a great week leading the Toros with a .478 average going 11-23 at the plate. He was second with 10 runs in 5 games and led the squad with 13 assists. He also had 3 doubles, 1 triple and 5 RBI.

RUN SUPPORT: It was good to be a Toros pitcher this past week. In the 4-game series against SFSU, CSUDH scored 60 runs including 28 in the series opener on Thursday. On the year, Cal State Dominguez Hills has outscored the opposition 251-165 and is averaging 7.6 runs per game.

GRAY AREA: Freshman OF Michael Gray is enjoying a fine frosh season. He leads all underclassmen on the Toros roster with a .286 average in 16 games. This past week, Gray recorded a .429 average in 3 games with an impressive .857 slugging percentage.

Current CCAA Season Standings

THE COACH: Head coach George Wing begins his 14th season at the helm of the CSUDH baseball program. Wing became the Toros all-time winningest coach last year when he notched his 300th victory against Albertson College 2-1 on February 20, 2001. His career mark now stands at 325-352-7 entering the 2002 season.

TOROS ON THE WEB: You can now access results, stories, statistics and other information about Toros soccer on the world wide web.

TOROS SPORTS HOTLINE: Get all the latest scores, Toros headlines and scheduling information 24 hours a day by calling the Toros Sports Hotline at (310) 243-3174.