March 29, 2009
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The University of San Diego baseball team scored nine unanswered runs to complete a three-game sweep over No. 12 Pepperdine University with a 9-3 win Sunday afternoon in a West Coast Conference game at Cunningham Stadium.
With the win, the Toreros improve to 19-10 overall, run their winning streak to five, have now won 10 of their last 11 games against the Waves and won 11 of their last 12 games overall. With the loss, Pepperdine falls to 16-11 overall and run their losing streak to five.
The Waves wasted no time in scoring as they put up two runs on a Nate Simon two-run homer over the right field fence in the first inning to give Pepperdine a 2-0 lead.
San Diego would cut that lead in half in the bottom of the first inning on a Steven Chatwood RBI sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Chris Engell, who had walked, moving the score to 2-1.
After Pepperdine took back one run in the top of the second on a Brian Humphries RBI single, the Toreros evened the score with a pair of runs in their half of the inning. The USD runs came on an Engell RBI single and a James Meador RBI single to knot the game at 3-3.
After the Toreros took a one-run lead in the bottom of the fourth, USD would put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth inning with five runs on five hits. Back-to-back singles by Nick McCoy and Zach Walters led off the inning. McCoy then moved to third when Engell it the ball to the shortstop, which resulted in Walters being thrown out at second base and Engell reaching on the fielder's choice. Meador then drove in McCoy on a RBI single through the left side and moved Engell to second. After both Engell and Meador advanced one base on a wild pitch, Victor Sanchez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Jon Hotta then hit a huge two-run single to left center field to give USD a 7-3 lead. Hotta advanced to second on a wild pitch and Tony Strazzara drew a walk to keep things rolling. Jose Valerio then drove in the final two runs with a two-run single up the middle to put the game at its final of 9-3.
Offensively for the Toreros, Meador led the way, as he went 2-for-3 with two RBI. McCoy also had a good day at the plate as he also went 2-for-3.
AJ Griffin (4-1) picked up the win on the mound for the Toreros, as he allowed three runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings of work. Darrin Campbell picked up his first save of the season as he allowed no runs on one hit in 4.0 innings of work. Tyler Hess (1-2) was saddled with the loss for the Waves as he allowed one run on two hits in 2.1 innings of work.
The Toreros will return to action on Tuesday when they head to Riverside to take on the Highlanders of UC Riverside in a 6 p.m. non-conference game.
