Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. â€" The University of San Diego baseball team put on a late rally, but fell short in a bid to complete three-game sweep of the Santa Clara University Broncos, falling 7-5 Sunday afternoon in a West Coast Conference game at Fowler Park.

With the loss, the Toreros fall to 20-19 overall, and move to 7-8 in the WCC. With the win, the Broncos improve to 16-18 overall and move to 4-9 in the WCC.

After SCU had taken a 7-3 lead, and heading to the bottom of the eighth inning, USD put on their rally caps and went to work. Roman Garcia led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run to left field, to cut the deficit to two.

Then in the ninth, USD once again put a scare into the Broncos. Bryson Brigman led off the frame with a walk, and then some wildness happened. Hunter Mercado-Hood hit the ball to the second baseman for a tailor made double play. However, the SCU shortstop didn't step on the bag at second, which allowed Brigman to safely move up a base, then on the throw back to first, Mercado-Hood was able to beat out the throw, to keep both runners on base with no outs. However, Riley Adams then hit into a double-play, and Garcia grounded out to the shortstop to end the game.

The Toreros did manage to get on to scoreboard first, as they pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Torero runs came on a wild pitch, which scored Brigman, who doubled, and the final run came on a Garcia sacrifice fly, to give USD a 2-0 lead.

SCU then scored one run in the second, and did most of their damage in the top of the fifth, scoring five runs on four hits to take back the momentum, setting up the thrilling ending.

Offensively for the Toreros, Roman Garcia led the way, as he went 2-for-4 with one home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Bryson Brigman went 2-for-4 with one run scored, and Riley Adams was the final Torero with multiple hits, as he went 2-for-5.

Nick Sprengel (2-6) was saddled with the loss on the mound for the Toreros, as he allowed two runs on two hits in 4.2 innings of work. SCU's Jason Seever (4-1) picked up the win for the Broncos, as he allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 7.0 innings of work. Max Kuhns picked up his 11th save of the season, as he allowed no runs on one hit in 2.0 innings of work.

The Toreros will return to action on Tuesday, as they welcome UC Riverside to town for a 6 p.m. non-conference game at Fowler Park.