May 15, 2016 Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif. â€" The University of San Diego baseball team held on to claim a West Coast Conference rubber game with a 9-5 win over the University of the Pacific Sunday afternoon at Klein Family Field.
With the win, the Toreros improve to 25-27 overall, and move to 12-12 in the WCC. With the loss, the Tigers fall to 20-28 overall and 11-13 in the WCC.
San Diego wasted no time in scoring, as they pushed across one run in the first inning. Daniel Gardner led off the game with a single, and he moved to second on a Bryson Brigman groundout. Riley Adams then drove in Gardner with a double to left center, to give USD a 1-0 lead.
USD then put up three more runs in the top of the second inning, on three hits. Troy Conyers led off the frame with a single and he moved to second when Hunter Mercado-Hood reached on an error. Jerod Smith then singled to load the bases, and Gardner doubled to left center to drive in the first two runs. Brigman then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, to score Smith from third, giving USD a 4-0 lead.
USD continued to cruise offensively, as they scored one more run in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth to take an 8-0 lead.
Pacific then made things interesting, as they scored four runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh to move the score to 8-4. The Pacific runs came on a passed ball, a bases loaded walk, a Bruso 2-run single.
The Tigers then scored one run in the eight to cut the lead down to three at 8-5, but a Gardner RBI single in the top of the ninth gave USD an insurance run, and put the game at its final of 9-5.
Offensively for the Toreros, Gardner led the way, as he went 4-for-6 with one double and four RBI.
Nick Sprengel (5-6) picked up the win on the mound for the Toreros, as he allowed three runs on six hits in 6.0 innings of work. Pacific's Jenkins (2-4) was saddled with the loss, as he allowed seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits in 5.0 innings of work.
The Toreros will return to action on Wednesday at 6 p.m., as they finally return to the friendly confines of Fowler Park to host Arizona State University.
