Change Up Boosts USD Success Rate : Baseball: Position switches for two key players have put USD in the strange position near the top of the WCC standings.

Merely a few months ago, Tony Moeder was a lonely center fielder, devoid of conversation for roughly half of every baseball game he played for the University of San Diego.

On the other hand, things seldom got dull for teammate Kevin Herde, particularly the scenery. One day, he’d be playing third base, the next first. Every so often, he’d even wind up on the mound.

Things are somewhat different today as USD readies itself for what could be the biggest series in school history this weekend at Cunningham Stadium.

USD, picked to finish fifth--again--in the West Coast Conference preseason coaches’ poll, could be leading the conference come Saturday evening. The second-place Toreros (17-15, 9-6) face ninth-ranked Pepperdine (21-9-1, 10-4) in a single game Friday at 2:30 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday at noon.

USD never has finished higher than fourth since switching to Division I in 1980. Two big reasons for USD’s sudden rise have been Moeder and Herde, juniors who have excelled in new roles.

Moeder now not only gets the chance to chat more, but he’s the talk of the WCC this season after switching to first base. “That’s the neat thing about (playing) first,” Moeder said. “There’s always someone to talk with. Even if no one’s on, there’s always the umpire. I really like it over there. It helps keep my head in the game.”

Herde no longer plays much at third and seldom does he visit first with a mitt on his hand. He still pitches some, more so in relief this year, but now he’s also catching, something he hasn’t done since his junior year at San Pasqual High.

Both said they couldn’t be happier.

It shows.

Moeder, a USDHS graduate, has been a terror this season. After flirting with .500 for more than a month, his current .414 batting average is still 27 points higher than anyone else in the WCC. Moeder also leads the WCC in hits (48), triples (three), runs batted in (33), and he is second in home runs (seven) and third in runs (27).

“He’s been out of control this year,” senior catcher Sean Gousha said.

Herde, USD’s most valuable player last season, is having another fine year. He’s hitting .339 (eighth in the WCC), with 40 hits (third), nine doubles (fourth), 23 runs (sixth), 25 RBIs (sixth) and four homers (eighth). On the mound, he has a 3.60 earned run average and is second in the WCC with three saves.

Said Gousha: “Kevin’s the same old man. He produces. Whether it’s in the infield or on the mound or wherever he happens to be, he comes through.”

But Moeder and Herde are not alone. A number of Toreros have improved this season.

- Gousha, pushed by Herde’s switch to catcher, is having a good year behind the plate after battling a bout with Hodgkin’s disease the past two years. “He’s put back on about 25 pounds, and he’s really played well for us the past few weeks,” USD Coach John Cunningham said.

- Junior Chad Boyd, the WCC’s best fielding shortstop last year, is on a pace--only five errors in 30 games--that would earn him that same title this year.

- Junior infielder Dave Pingree is hitting .311.

- Senior outfielder Ed Scofield is at .301 and is fifth in the WCC with 10 stolen bases.

And the pitching, particularly the starting pitching, has improved radically.

Fifth in the conference a year ago with a 5.76 ERA, USD is second (4.88) this season behind Pepperdine (3.78).

Mike Saipe, a freshman from University City High, is 4-2 with a 4.02 ERA. Senior Pat Crema is 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA. And senior Jeff Crane, who transferred from Southwestern College after being cut by San Diego State, is 6-2 with a 4.73 ERA.

All three are among the WCC’s top 10 in ERA. All three, at various times, have been honored as the WCC’s pitcher of the week.

Another freshman, Pat James, wasn’t on the roster in the fall. But on March 17, he became only the second pitcher to throw a complete game against Arizona State this season, and USD beat the Sun Devils, 4-3.

“The amazing thing about our pitching,” Cunningham said, “is that our projected No. 1 guy, Sean Durbin, hasn’t pitched an inning this year (because of soreness in his elbow). Everyone has just filled in. It’s not been just one guy.”

Said Herde: “That’s been a big difference for us this year. I don’t think we’ve ever had that kind of stability in our pitching. I know since I’ve been here, we’ve never really had a set rotation.”

Herde, with his growing collection of gloves providing evidence, has never really had a set position.

He carries with him to the field each day a black Wilson catcher’s mitt, a small Rawlings infielder’s glove and a larger Rawlings first baseman mitt. “I’ve got a longer Wilson I use in the outfield,” said Herde, who played outfield in high school, “but that’s collecting dust right now.”

Herde was a second-team, all-conference utility player last year, but his versatility probably hurt him more than it helped coming out of high school, Cunningham said.

“He was sitting in my office, and he was talking about coming here,” Cunningham said. “He was all-CIF as a junior, and I didn’t know who he was.

“But he wanted to come here, so I went and saw him a couple of times, and he was at third base one time and pitching another. And I told him my evaluation is, maybe in your case your versatility is, as far as scholarships are concerned, is a negative rather than a positive because I didn’t see anything really in any position that was better than what we already had. But I also told him if he were here, he’d probably play.

“So he came, and he was all-league as a freshman.”

Cunningham said his initial plan this year was for Herde to play first base.

“His only real negative is he doesn’t have great foot speed,” Cunningham said. “He has good hands, he’s got a great arm, and he has a solid bat. We needed to keep his bat in the lineup somehow.

“We actually had planed on him playing at first base, because at that time, Tony wasn’t even in the picture there.”

After Herde, who also is a designated hitter, started working out as a catcher, first base became open again.

Enter Moeder, who had been an outfielder almost all his life.

“There wasn’t really any plan to move him to first base. It just happened,” Cunningham said. “There’s no genius on my part here.”

Said Moeder: “It’s enhanced my game, no question. It’s really increased my intensity level. Obviously, there’s more action at first base. And whenever I’ve had a bad at-bat, it keeps my mind from drifting and thinking about my swing.”

Cunningham: “I think because he’s had to change his focus from being unsuccessful in a particular at-bat to learning first base--I mean, he didn’t know the first thing about first base--it has really helped his hitting and his overall game.

“He doesn’t mope as much. He doesn’t worry as much. I really believe the transition helped him. He’s got a step in his game again. I made the comment to him earlier in the year, I said, ‘Tony, you’ve got happy feet again.’ ”

Moeder agreed, and perhaps nobody realizes how good that feeling is more than he and Herde.

“Through the years, there’s always been a little friendly competition between Tony and I as far hitting home runs, driving in runs, batting average and stuff like that,” Herde said. “Our first two years, I probably got the better of him.

“But this year, he’s so far out there, I just had to tip my hat to him and said go do your own thing. I’ll play my own game.”