April 15, 2008
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Behind a solid pitching performance from junior left-hander Ricardo Pecina, the 12th-ranked University of San Diego baseball team upended visiting No. 6 UC Irvine, 7-1, in a non-conference game at Cunningham Stadium.
With the win, the Toreros improve to 28-11 overall and run their winning streak to nine games. With the loss, the Anteaters fall to 23-7 overall.
Pecina (3-2) had his third consecutive strong outing on the mound for the Toreros as he allowed one run on seven hits, while striking out seven in 7.1 innings of work. Sophomore All-American AJ Griffin came in to pick up his eighth save of the season as he allowed no runs on no hits with one strikeout in 1.2 innings of work. Christian Bergman (4-1) was saddled with the loss for the Anteaters as he allowed three runs on six hits in 3.0 innings of work.
San Diego got on the scoreboards first as in the second inning, the Toreros scored three runs on five hits. Logan Gelbrich and Josh Romanski began the inning with back-to-back doubles and Victor Sanchez drove in Gelbrich with a RBI single through the left side. Kevin Hansen then drove in Romanski with a double down the left field line and the final USD run came on a Jose Valerio RBI infield single to give USD a 3-0 advantage.
The Anteaters scored their lone run of the game in the fourth inning when Jeff Cusik hit into a double play, scoring Ollie Linton, who had singled to move the score to 3-1.
The Toreros would then put the game out of each in the bottom of the eighth inning as they scored four runs on five hits. Kevin Muno got things started with a single through the right side and moved to third on a Sean Nicol double. James Meador drove in both Muno and Nicol with a double to right centerfield and Meador advanced to third on a Gelbrich infield single. After Josh Romanski was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs, Sanchez hit into a double play, which moved Gelbrich to third and Romanski to second. Hansen drove in the final two runs on a single to right field to put the game at its final of 7-1.
Offensively for the Toreros, Hansen led the way as he went 2-for-4 with one double and three RBI. Muno, Gelbrich and Valerio all recorded multiple hits on the day with Valerio recording an RBI.
The Toreros will return to action on Friday as they continue West Coast Conference play with a the start of a three-game series against Saint Mary's COllege. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
