Feb. 23, 2008
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The fifth-ranked University of San Diego baseball team (1-2) split a double-deader with cross-town rival San Diego State University (2-1) Saturday. USD claimed game one 17-11 at Cunningham Stadium, before falling 15-2 in the night cap at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
In the first game, right from the get-go, the Toreros put the pedal to the medal and bounced back from an 11-2 defeat a night earlier. After the Aztecs put up two runs in the first inning, the Toreros responded with a six spot in their half of the inning. Kevin Muno got things rolling with a stand-up double to left center. Ryan Davis then moved Muno to third with a single to right field. Sean Nicol drove in Muno with an RBI single to the shortstop. Both Davis and Nicol then moved up one base on a wild pitch and Josh Romanski fouled a ball off his own ankle, was down for a couple of minutes, then two pitches later, he turned on a pitch and rocketed the ball over the right field fence to give USD a 3-2 lead.
San Diego wasn't down yet, as Anthony Strazzara singled to right field and moved to second on a James Meador walk. Kevin Hansen then drove in the final two runs on a two-run triple to right center to give the Toreros a 6-2 lead.
Heading into the fifth inning, the Toreros were leading 9-4 and they put the game out of reach with a four run inning. Muno led off the inning on a walk, then stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by the SDSU catcher. Davis then walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Nicol then brought in Muno as he reached on a fielders choice that also moved Davis to third. Davis would score on a balk, which also moved Nicol to second. Romanski then hit his second homer of the game, a two-run blast to push the Torero lead to 13-4.
USD would go on to score three runs in each the fourth and sixth innings and added in one more run in the eighth to tally all 17 runs for the game.
Romanski was the offensive hero of the game as he went 4-for-5 with two home runs and seven RBI. Nicol was also impressive with the bat as he went 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Romanski (1-0) also picked up the win on the hill for the Toreros as he allowed eight runs, seven earned, on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work. Shane Kaufman (0-1) was saddled with the loss for the Aztecs as he allowed six runs on six hits in 0.2 innings of work.
In the nightcap, the Toreros got on the scoreboard first as they put up one run on one hit in the second inning. Sanchez got things started with a single through the left side. Sanchez then stole second and moved two more bases on back-to-back fielding errors by the Aztecs to give USD a brief 1-0 lead.
SDSU then responded with four runs in their half of the inning. The Aztecs' runs came on a Cameron Johnson RBI single, a Bubba Ruddy run-scoring double, Brandon Decker then drove in a run on a groundout to the second baseman and the final run came on a Brett Tanos RBI single to give SDSU a 4-1 lead.
After the Aztecs ripped off eight more runs to take control of the game, the Toreros took back one run in the top of the sixth inning on a fielding error by SDSU.
Matt Couch (0-1) was saddled with the loss for the Toreros on the mound as he allowed 10 runs, nine earned, on 10 hits in 3.2 innings of work. Nate Solow (1-0) was credited with the win for the Aztecs as he allowed two runs on two hits in 5.1 innings of work.
The Toreros will conclude their season-opening series on Sunday against SDSU with a 1 p.m.. game at Cunningham Stadium, weather permitting.
