USD, picked for third place in preseason poll, takes on Waves
USD opens West Coast Conference play this weekend at Pepperdine, beginning a 27-game journey the Toreros hope leads them back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
Both teams are 9-6 coming into conference play, however. They should be in the thick of things in a competitive conference in which eight of the WCC’s 10 teams have winning records.USD’s final tuneup was in Tuesday night’s 11-10 home victory over Cal State Fullerton. The Toreros swept the three-game series against Pepperdine last season at Fowler Park.
Most notable will be how SDSU starting pitcher Troy Melton is extended after debuting last week with two hitless, scoreless innings against UNLV. Melton is ramping up his pitch count after being sidelined in the offseason with arm soreness. This is the final leg of a West Coast swing for the Huskies. They won two of three games over the weekend at Pepperdine, then won 7-1 at USC on Monday before a 7-1 loss at Long Beach State on Tuesday.Point Loma Nazarene is intent on carrying the momentum from earlier this week — the Sea Lions added three wins during a pair of doubleheaders Monday and Tuesday against Hawaii Pacific — up to the Bay Area.PLNU continues to lead the PacWest in hitting and pitching .