Something special is happening at the University of San Diego. Over the weekend, the Toreros swept Santa Clara at Fowler Field, continuing a ridiculous run of success: the Toreros have won a staggering 25 of their last 28 games. That streak started in March after they lost their first two West Coach Conference games by one run each.
“I think going through that adversity, you know, the first two games of Conference, we got kind of punched in the mouth for lack of better words,” says Toreros head coach Brock Ungricht. “This player-led group, this family, this culture, this team, they took it upon themselves to take ownership. They believe in themselves more than anything and you could see it really show up after those first two games.”
They’ve obviously got really good players. But it takes more than talent to make a run like this. Coaches can talk about culture until they’re blue in the face. It’s up to the players to create it. This group has taken that message and run with it.
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“(I’m) having a great time right now. We're all a family. It's a group of brothers,” says catcher Ariel Armas. “Coach Ungricht has done a great job of kind of implementing a great culture here. We're all following along his footsteps. And it's been a great journey so far this year, a great group of guys, and I'm excited to keep going.”
Coach Ungricht played for Tony Gwynn at San Diego State. Tony always said play hard and have fun. Brock is preaching the same message now and the results are speaking for themselves.
“This is one of the greatest groups I've ever played with,” says shortstop Justin Decriscio. “Just like you said, fun, exciting. Everyone's bought in and we can go as far as possible. The sky's the limit. I truly believe that with this group, so I'm excited to keep going.”
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Now, with a conference title in sight and a top-30 RPI that almost guarantees them a spot in the NCAA Tournament, dare we start talking about USD making its first ever trip to the College World Series?
“Our goal is going to always be to win the WCC regular and advance into the regionals,” says Ungricht. “That message has been sent since day one when they got on campus. So, they know that. And that is the first box you can check before you can get to Omaha. So, we want to check that box first and then take care of the next boxes as they come.”
In the latest top-25 polls, the Toreros received the same number of votes as reigning national champion LSU. This could be a special summer in San Diego. USD has one WCC series left, on the road against last place San Francisco. With a Magic Number of 3, expect a trophy to be coming home from the bay with them.
