March 21, 2009
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The University of San Diego baseball team led the long ball fly as they pounded out 13 hits and three home runs to complete a double-header sweep over Brown University with an 11-5 win Saturday afternoon at USD's Cunningham Stadium.
With the win, the Toreros improve to 14-9 overall, run their winning streak to a season-high five games and gave head coach Rich Hill his 700th career victory. With the loss, the Bears fall to 1-7 overall and run their losing streak to six.
USD wasted no time in scoring as they put up two runs on two hits in the first inning. Sean Nicol led off the inning with a walk. Zach Walters then hit a single to right field and moved to second on an error by the Brown right-fielder, which also moved Nicol to third. Victor Sanchez drove in Nicol with a ground out to the short stop and James Meador drove in Walters with a run-scoring double to left centerfield to give USD a 2-0 lead.
The Toreros' big inning came with a five-run third inning. Back-to-back singles by Nicol and Chris Engell led off the inning for the Toreros. Walters then drove in Nicol with a RBI single to right center field. After both Walters and Engell moved up one base on a wild pitch, Sanchez drove in Engell with a groundout to the shortstop. Meador drove in Walters with a double to centerfield. Meador then stole third, and when the catcher attempted to throw Meador out at third, the ball screwed past the third baseman, allowing Meador to score the fourth run of the inning. Brian Farris then hit his first collegiate home run, a solo shot over the center field fence to give the Toreros a commanding 7-0 lead.
After Brown took back one run in the top of the fourth inning on a Matt Nuzzo run-scoring triple, the Toreros put the game out of reach with three runs in the bottom of the same inning. The USD runs came on a Nicol solo home run and a Sanchez two-run homer.
Brown scored one run in the sixth inning and three in the seventh inning, while USD added one more run in the fifth inning to put the game at its final of 11-5.
Offensively for the Toreros, Meador and Walters each went 3-for-5 with Meador recording three doubles and two RBI.
AJ Griffin (3-1) picked up his second win of the day, as he allowed one run on four hits, while striking gout five in 5.0 innings of work in his first collegiate start. Brown's Will Weidig (0-3) was saddled with the loss for the Bears, as he allowed 11 runs on 13 hits in 5.0 innings of work.
The Toreros will return to action on Sunday as they play Brown in a 1 p.m. game at Cunningham Stadium.
