March 26, 2004
Box Score
(Moraga, CA) - Behind seven plus innings of two-hit baseball from Gael starter Bryan Oland, St. Mary's defeated San Diego 3-2 Friday afternoon in the opener of a three-game West Coast Conference series at Louis Guisto Field. Oland pitched into the eighth allowing St. Mary's (7-18; 2-2) to even its league mark to 2-2. San Diego (12-15; 1-6) manufactured runs in the seventh and eighth and had the tying run on base in the ninth. The weekend set continues Saturday at 1pm.
The Toreros were held to just one hit and three base-runners through six complete innings. USD junior Randy Curtis hit an RBI double to put USD on the scoreboard in the seventh, scoring freshman Jordan Abruzzo, who reached on an error by St. Mary's second baseman Michael Harris. The Toreros tacked on another run in the eighth when senior Joey Prast scored on an infield single by classmate Tom Caple.
Caple (1-6) was the pitcher of record for USD, losing for the sixth time this season despite holding the Gaels to three earned runs over five and two thirds innings. USD left-hander Justin Blaine came on to strike out four Gael batters in relief of Caple to allow the Torero offense a chance to rally in the game's later stages.
Josh Hansen singled with one-out in the ninth and teammate Gavin Ng came on to pinch run. With one-out and Jordan Abruzzo facing a 2-2 count, Ng was picked off by Gael reliever Allan Lobban. Abruzzo then grounded out to Lobban to end the game. Oland (3-3) picked up his third win and Lobban earned the save, his first.
