April 18, 2010
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif - The University of San Diego baseball team (20-15, 6-0 WCC) completed three-game sweep of the Santa Clara University Broncos (14-19, 1-7) Sunday afternoon in a West Coast Conference game behind the strength of three home runs to claim a 9-4 win.
The Toreros got out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning, scoring one run on two hits. Junior centerfielder Kevin Muno led off the frame with a single through the left side, then stole second and moved to third on a Zach Walters fly out to left field. Senior right fielder James Meador then drove in Muno with a run-scoring double to give the Toreros an early 1-0 advantage.
A pitchers duel ensued from that point between Broncos starter Chris Mendoza and USD's senior right-hander AJ Griffin until the fifth inning. Griffin was dominating through the first four innings as he took a perfect game into the fifth. The Broncos then broke up the no-hitter on a Patrick Terry RBI single, which scored Geoff Klein, who had walked, to tie the score at 1-1. The final two SCU runs came on a Blake Leyva ground-out and an Ian O'Conner RBI single to give SCU a brief 3-1 lead.
San Diego came right back in the bottom of the fifth inning to put four of their own runs on the scoreboard, highlighted by Walters' third homer of the year, a blast off the netting over the right field fence. Senior third baseman Chris Engell opened the inning with a single right back up the middle, and moved to second on a fielding error on the SCU shortstop, which also allowed Zack Kometani to safely reach first. After Muno moved both runners up a base on a ground out to short, junior second baseman Tony Strazzara drove in both Engell and Kometani on a single through the right side, before touching home himself on Walters' blast to right field, giving the Toreros a 5-3 lead.
Both teams added another run in sixth inning before USD put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth inning, as San Diego scored three runs on four hits. The Toreros runs came on back-to-back solo home runs by Victor Sanchez and Kometani, and a Walters RBI single to put the game at its final of 9-4.
Walters led the offense for the Toreros as he went 3-for-5 with one home run and three RBI. Meador also had a good day at the plate as he went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI.
Griffin (3-3) was credited with the win on the mound for the Toreros as he allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits in 6.1 innings of work. Senior right-hander Matt Hauser picked up his sixth save of the season as he allowed no runs on one hit in 2.2 innings of work. SCU's Chris Mendoza (2-3) was saddled with the loss for the Broncos as he allowed seven runs, three earned, on nine hits in 7.1 innings of work.
The Toreros are back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Riverside to play the Highlanders of UC Riverside in a 6:00 p.m. non-conference game at the Riverside Sports Complex.
