The San Diego Toreros enter 2008 as having perhaps the top pitching staff in the country, headlined by junior Brian Matusz. The lanky 6'4" lefty was a top prospect coming out of high school, yet fell to the Angels in the 4th round after telling big league clubs that he wanted a minimum of $1.475 million to sign. Negotiations between the two broke down, and he became the highest draft pick ever to attend USD.
Matusz commands 3 quality pitches with impeccable control; a low 90's fastball, a good curveball and a solid change. Thrown into the fire right away by starting 13 games as a freshman, he went 4-3 with a 4.25 ERA. He struck out 93 batters while walking only 39. The cornerstone of an up and coming program, Brian was named a Freshman All American by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.
In 2007, Matusz went 10-3 and led his Toreros to a 43-18 record. He set a San Diego single season record with 163 strikeouts, which was 2nd in the country only to Vandy's David Price, the #1 overall pick in the '07 draft. In 123 innings pitched, Brian had a 2.85 ERA, holding opponents to a .214 average. He displayed his dominance by striking out 13 batters on 3 separate occasions, while ringing up at least 10 in 9 different contests. Besides being named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, Baseball America, the NCBWA, and Collegiate Baseball all gave him a spot on their All American teams.
Starting for the U.S. National Team this summer, Matusz started 4 games, going 3-1 with a 1.33 ERA. Along with Mississippi's Lance Lynn and Virginia's Jacob Thompson, he left the team in late July to avoid a heavy workload, having accumulated 143 combined innings.
With another strong performance this spring, Matusz is a favorite to go in the first 5 picks in this June's draft.
Matusz commands 3 quality pitches with impeccable control; a low 90's fastball, a good curveball and a solid change. Thrown into the fire right away by starting 13 games as a freshman, he went 4-3 with a 4.25 ERA. He struck out 93 batters while walking only 39. The cornerstone of an up and coming program, Brian was named a Freshman All American by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.In 2007, Matusz went 10-3 and led his Toreros to a 43-18 record. He set a San Diego single season record with 163 strikeouts, which was 2nd in the country only to Vandy's David Price, the #1 overall pick in the '07 draft. In 123 innings pitched, Brian had a 2.85 ERA, holding opponents to a .214 average. He displayed his dominance by striking out 13 batters on 3 separate occasions, while ringing up at least 10 in 9 different contests. Besides being named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, Baseball America, the NCBWA, and Collegiate Baseball all gave him a spot on their All American teams.
Starting for the U.S. National Team this summer, Matusz started 4 games, going 3-1 with a 1.33 ERA. Along with Mississippi's Lance Lynn and Virginia's Jacob Thompson, he left the team in late July to avoid a heavy workload, having accumulated 143 combined innings.
With another strong performance this spring, Matusz is a favorite to go in the first 5 picks in this June's draft.
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