April 6, 2012
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -The 19th-ranked University of San Diego baseball team evened the West Coast Conference series with Gonzaga University Friday afternoon with a 5-2 victory at USD's Cunningham Stadium.
With the win, the Toreros improve to 24-8 overall, move to 6-2 in the WCC and have forced a rubber game in this series with the Zags. With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 20-8 overall and 3-2 in the WCC.
The Zags got on the scoreboard first, as they pushed across one run on two hits in the first inning. Eric Lane led off the game with a single to left field, and Alex Stanford then drove him in with a run-scoring double to right center field to give GU a 1-0 lead.
San Diego answered back in the bottom of the second inning, as they scored three runs on three hits. Back-to-back walks issued to AJ Robinson and Bryan Haar got things started, and Austin Bailey then loaded the bases with an infield single bunt to the first baseman. Julian Duran drove in Robinson with a sacrifice fly to right field to even the score at 1-1. Andrew Daniel then drove in Haar with a single to left field and Louie Lechich drove in the final run with an RBI single through the right side to give USD a 3-1 lead.
Gonzaga then took back a run in the top of the fourth inning, on a Billy Moon RBI single up the middle, scoring Payden Crawley Lamb, who had walked, to move the score to 3-2.
The Toreros took that run right back in the bottom of the fifth, as Dillon Haupt reached on a RBI fielder's choice, scoring Kris Bryant, who reached on an error, to moved the USD lead back to two runs at 4-2.
The Toreros then got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as they took advantage of a throwing error on the Gonzaga catchers on a double-steal by Duran and Bailey, to put the game at its final of 5-2.
Offensively for the Toreros, Lechich led the way as he went 2-for-5 with an RBI, while both Bailey and LeVier went 2-for-4 at the plate.
Paul Sewald (5-1) picked up the win on the mound for the Toreros, as he allowed two runs on six hits, while striking out seven in 5.0 innings of work. Michael Wagner came on and picked up a two-inning save, as he allowed no runs on no hits in 2.0 innings of work. This marked Wagner's 13th save of the season, one shy of the USD single-season record. Gonzaga starter Andy Hunter (2-2) was saddled with the loss for the Bulldogs, as he allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits in 7.1 innings of work.
These two teams will return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a rubber game inside the friendly confines of Cunningham Stadium.
