Box Score

SANTEE, Calif. - Behind the pitching of Paige von Sprecken and the power of Kailey Hill, the USD softball team (16-14) knocked off UConn 2-1 in the final game of the San Diego Classic II Sunday afternoon. Von Sprecken held the Huskies to two hits and Hill hit a triple and a solo home run.

The Huskies took advantage of a von Sprecken first inning walk to take an early 1-0 lead. After Alyssa Gardea drew a bases on balls, she advanced to second on a wild pitch and came home to score on an Emily O'Donnell double to the gap.

Kailey Hill continued her hot streak in her first at-bat when she launched a solo home run to dead centerfield with two outs. It was Hill's sixth home run in the past eight games and her ninth on the season.

The Toreros had a couple of opportunities in the bottom of the fourth. With runners on first and second and one out, Cailtin Rooney hit a line drive but the Huskies' were able to snag it. After Hannah Gilliland walked, pinch hitter Kylie Crawford came up with the bases loaded, but Chelsea Eckert got her to pop out to second to end the threat.

The Huskies mounted their own threat in the top of the fifth. They had runners and first and second with two outs, but Coach McElvain called a pitch out and guessed right. With the runner on second caught in no man's land, Mary Grabowski fired it to second and USD got the runner at third.

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Hill struck again; this time with a triple down the rightfield line. Senior captain Chloe Kaneko then came through with a clutch RBI single to give USD a 2-1 lead. Von Sprecken retired the next six UConn batters to give USD the 2-1 win.

Von Sprecken (12-5) gave up just two hits and one run and notched her 13th complete game of the season. She struck out at least one UConn batter in every inning except the seventh, finishing with eight on the day.

The Toreros return to action on Thursday when they host Buffalo for an 11:00 a.m. game.