SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball (10-3, 0-0 WCC) dominated both games of Saturday's doubleheader against UC Riverside (2-4, 0-0 Big West), taking down the Highlanders by scores of 7-0 and 9-0 at Fowler Park to earn its sixth and seventh straight victories.

GAME ONE - USD 7, UCR 0
Conner Thurman turned in the Toreros' best pitching performance of the season so far in game one, helping his team cruise to victory after throwing seven scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts. In what marked his first college start, the redshirt freshman right-hander allowed just two hits and walked only one (an intentional walk), recording the longest outing by any USD pitcher so far this season, as well as the most strikeouts in a game by a Torero so far in 2021. Thurman received the win for game one of the doubleheader, moving his record to 2-0 on the year.

He was relieved by graduate student Kieran Shaw, who pitched two perfect innings out of the bullpen to finalize the 7-0 victory for San Diego.

Thurman's brilliant performance was backed up by big games at the plate by several different Toreros. Shane McGuire and Tora Otsuka led the way with two RBIs apiece, while Paul Kunst, Thomas Luevano, and Caleb Ricketts chipped in by each driving in a run. Luevano now leads the team with 24 RBIs.

GAME TWO - USD 9, UCR 0
Brycen Mautz (Westview High School) picked up right where Thurman and Shaw left off on the mound in the second game of the doubleheader, striking out the first seven batters he faced enroute to five no-hit innings. The freshman lefty recorded nine total strikeouts on the evening and walked none in what was his first start of 2021, receiving the win for game two to move his 2021 record to 2-1.

Mautz was relieved by true freshman Ivran Romero (Poway High School), who tossed four scoreless innings to conclude the game, scattering two hits against a walk and two strikeouts. Romero has now thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings to begin his college career.

Mautz and Romero's lights-out performances on the mound were bolstered by a productive evening for the USD offense. Shane McGuire got the scoring started early for the Toreros, clobbering a two-run homer to right field in the bottom of the first inning. Cody Jefferis drove in another run with an RBI double then came around to score on a wild pitch, making it a 4-0 lead for San Diego early on that the team would not relinquish. Jefferis's .426 batting average through both of Saturday's games leads all USD players.

Insurance runs were plentiful for the Toreros in the nightcap, and were delivered emphatically. Caleb Ricketts notched his first college home run by launching a towering two-run shot to right field that hit the facing of the Manchester Village Apartments' fourth floor, then Thomas Luevano crushed his team-leading sixth home run of the season off of the USD scoreboard in left field.

Ricketts, Luevano, and Lopez each drove in two runs, and Paul Kunst and Cody Jefferis added in RBIs of their own.

Seven different Toreros (Otsuka, McGuire, Ricketts, Adam Lopez, Jefferis, Jack Costello, and Luevano) had hits in the game, and three (Otsuka, Ricketts, and Jefferis) had two-hit games.

USD has now won seven consecutive games, including nine of their last 10. The Toreros will look to earn a four-game sweep in back-to-back weeks in the series finale against UC Riverside tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at Fowler park.