SEATTLE --- Seattle U continues its five-day four-game road trip of southern California as it participates in the 2020 Tony Gwynn Legacy, co-hosted by San Diego State and San Diego.
FOLLOW ALONG /// All home games at Bannerwood Park and WAC matchups will be seemed for free online on the WAC Digital Network. Be sure to also follow @SeattleUBase on Twitter and Instagram for updates and more.
SERIES HISTORY /// All three games for the Redhawks will be the first-ever meetings since the program's rebirth.
ABOUT USC /// The Trojans are 2-1 after the opening weekend, outscoring Western Michigan, 35-18. USC was 25-29-1 last season with a 13-15-1 record in PAC-12 play. Starter Kyle Hurt made 17 appearances last season, going 74.1 innings and had a team-best 81 strikeouts.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO /// The Toreros began the weekend at 3-1 after finishing last season 32-21. Starter Carter Rusted is 1-0 on the year and will make his home debut against Seattle U on Saturday.
ABOUT SIU /// The Salukis headed into the weekend holding a 3-2 record and are coming off a 26-29 record last season. Starter Blake Begner posted a 6-9 record in 2019 with 44 strikeouts in 67.1 innings.
ON THE HILL /// Left-handed trio Jarrod Billig, Ethan Christianson and Alex McBee are slated to start this weekend. Billig is 0-1 on the year with four strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Christianson is 1-0 on the year after tossing five-hitless innings with six strikeouts against Creighton (2/14). McBee's first outing of 2020 was a scoreless thee-inning relief appearance vs Creighton (2/16).
CALIFORNIA BOYS /// While the majority the 2020 Seattle U roster hails from the State of Washington (18), the next largest contingency (4) is from The Golden State, including Marvcus Guarin (San Francisco), Alex Jemal (Mission Viejo), Justin Mazzone (Huntington Beach) and Tyler Yeh (Los Angeles).
OH-BRIEN /// Connor O'Brien opens the Tony Gwynn Legacy hitting a team-best .429 (6-14). On Wednesday, the junior infielder had a career-best four-hit game at UC Riverside including a triple. O'Brien is the grandson of Seattle U Hall of Famer and former Pittsburgh Pirate, Johnny O'Brien.
WATCH THIS SLUGGER /// Earlier this week, senior infielder Austin Lively was among the top 36 named to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Watch List. Lively is among the Redhawks' top weapons in 2020 after returning from an injury-shortened season in 2019, that saw him bat .298 with 42 hits, 20 RBI, five home runs while slugging .426.
MILESTONE WATCH /// Austin Lively is listed third in career runs scored (115), trailing Griffin Andreychuk (2014-17) by 22 runs. Lively is also 30 hits shy of becoming the fifth player to reach the 200-hit plateau.
#PROREDHAWKS /// During the 2019 season, Seattle U had five former Redhawks finish the year on a MLB or MiLB roster. After a great season at Erie (AA), Tarik Skubal will join the Detroit in Spring Training later this month and is beginning the 2020 season as the club's fourth-overall prospect. On Aug. 21, Eric Yardley took the mound for the San Diego, becoming the first Seattle U alum since Johnny O'Brien (July 1959) to appear in the Majors in 60 years. Yardley begins this season as a member of Milwaukee. Following a solid career in Cap Hill, Jake Prizina was selected by Baltimore in the 31st round of 2019 MLB Amateur Draft, making him the 11th Redhawk to be chosen since the program's return. Other alums among the MiLB system last season included pitchers Janson Junk (NYY-A+) and Zack Wolf (MIA-A).