April 3, 2015 SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The USD Softball team (23-16, 2-0) kicked off the WCC season with a pair of wins against the Pacific Tigers Friday evening. In game one, the Toreros scored all three of their runs with two outs and Paige von Sprecken held the Tigers to three hits and no runs. In game two, USD had eight players record a hit and went on to win 7-6.
In game one, Mary Grabowski put the Toreros on the board in the bottom of the first with a RBI double to the left centerfield gap, bringing home Kailey Hill, who reached on a two-out single.
The Toreros added to their lead in the third inning with another two-out double. This time it was Hill hitting a line drive over the leftfielder's head to knock in Danielle Mavridis.
Hill picked up another two-out RBI in the fifth with a RBI single down the right field line give USD a 3-0 lead.
Paige von Sprecken (16-6) continued her dominance in the circle, throwing a three-hitter for her fourth shutout of the season and her 16th win.
The Tigers scored first in game two when Cassidy Gustafson roped a double to left field to bring home Nicole Zapotoczny, who led off the inning with a single to centerfield.
The Toreros batted around in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead. Just like game one, USD did their damage with two outs. With the bases loaded, Danielle Mavridis had an RBI infield single. The next batter, Olivia Sandusky hit a line drive right to the Tiger second baseman, who misplayed it, allowing a run to score. Morgan Kurtz tacked on one more with a single up the middle, giving USD a 3-1 lead.
The Tigers came roaring back in the top of the fourth with a pair of unearned runs on a double by Rachel Sellers to the right centerfield gap, tying the game at 3-3.
Tatum Schultz led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to the gap and advanced to third on an error by the centerfielder. Danielle Mavridis knocked her in with a single to left field, and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sandusky brought Mavridis home with a single down the rightfield line, which extended her on-base streak to 17 games. After being sacrificed over to second, Sandusky scored on a Kailey Hill single up the middle, giving USD a 6-3 lead. It was Hill's 24th RBI on the season, which leads the team.
The Toreros added a crucial insurance run in the sixth. Kailey Hill tripled to the left centerfield gap and came in to score on a Grabowski RBI groundout, putting USD up 7-3.
The Tigers led off the seventh with three straight singles, resulting in two runs, prompting Coach McElvain to bring Grace Hernandez in. She walked the first batter she faced and then the Tigers laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third with one out. Hernandez then retired the next two batters to pick up her third save of the season, which ties her for third most in USD history.
Von Sprecken (17-6) earned the win after giving up four earned runs in six innings.
The Toreros wrap up their series with Pacific on Saturday at noon.
