March 7, 2005
Box Score
(San Diego, CA) - It appeared as if San Diego was well on its way to a three-game sweep over St. Mary's Monday afternoon at USD's Cunningham Stadium, before the Gaels scored five late runs to overcome a four-run deficit- denying San Diego a perfect start to its 2005 West Coast Conference (WCC) season.
Torero relievers' Nicholas Cranmer and Sean Warlop were touched up for three runs in the top half of the seventh inning, allowing St. Mary's a 7-6 win.
San Diego (14-9-1; 2-1 WCC) used five different pitchers, with starter Josh Butler giving-way to Cranmer in the sixth. Butler struck out seven and left with a 6-4 lead.
Infielders' Bryan Byrne (3-for-4) and Orben Frederick (2-for-5) both hit two-RBI doubles for St. Mary's (3-10; 1-2 WCC). The Gaels snap a five-game losing streak. SMC starter Jordan Simo (1-2) went the distance, pitching a rare complete-game 10-hitter for second-year Gaels head coach Jedd Sotto.
Torero first baseman Randy Curtis hit an RBI-triple off Simo in the first inning and was knocked in on a base-hit by Jordan Abruzzo to give San Diego an early 2-0 lead. Curtis went 3-for-4 Monday. RBI-doubles by both Matt Falk and Jamie Hesselgesser in the USD fourth extended the Torero advantage to 4-0.
Trailing 6-2 in the sixth inning, St. Mary's mounted a rally that produced five unanswered runs. The Gaels chased Butler in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs off the sophomore right-hander on RBI-extra-base hits from Delaney Gallagher and Mike Sansoe.
The Gaels then took the lead in the seventh off the combination of Cranmer (0-1) and Warlop, plating three more runs, with the decisive blow coming from catcher Stefan Foushee, who singled through the infield off Warlop, giving St. Mary's a one-run lead that Simo made stand up.
