SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball (21-8, 7-4 WCC) earned a hard-fought conference victory on Saturday evening, prevailing by a 7-5 margin versus San Francisco (14-17, 9-5 WCC) at Fowler Park.

After a quiet night at the plate on Friday, the Toreros quickly surged ahead in the series' middle game, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning via an RBI double from junior Tora Otsuka, an RBI single from sophomore Caleb Ricketts, and a throwing error by the Dons.

"These are my favorite kind of games," USD head coach Rich Hill said after the last out. "Where it's a real character test. Our guys responded with flying colors today."

USD plated two more in the third courtesy of an opposite-field RBI single from true freshman Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School), then added one final insurance run in the eighth when Sim notched a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-5 game.

"He's a very talented player," Hill said of Sim's performance so far in his first collegiate season. "But making the jump from high school to Division I — especially when you don't have a high school season — there's going to be a learning curve. He responded in a big way today."

Sophomore Jake Miller started the game on the mound for San Diego, allowing two earned runs in five innings of work, striking out four in the process in what marked his first appearance in more than 20 days.

"I thought Jake Miller set the tone early," the head coach said of his starter, who earned the win on Saturday to move to 4-1. "He had some 'velo' after being out for two weeks, just gave us a boost of energy right away."

Miller was relieved by true freshman Ivran Romero and graduate student Kieran Shaw, who teamed up to pitch the contest's final four innings out of the bullpen for USD. Romero surrendered an earned run on three hits in two innings of work, then Shaw closed the game out with two scoreless frames, allowing only two hits while striking out three to earn his fifth save of 2021. Two of those K's came when Shaw worked his way out of a jam in the top of the eighth and stranded a pair of Dons on second and third.

"Pitches of consequence, Kieran has a lot of experience with that," said Hill. "He proved today that he's got nerves of steel."

The Toreros finalized the win with a thrilling 5-3-6 double play, cutting down USF's lead runner at third base after Darius Foster tried to advance from first on a ground ball to Sim at third in the top of the ninth. First baseman Caleb Ricketts fired a strike across the diamond to shortstop Cody Jefferis after the putout, who ranged to his right to cover third, leapt, and made a mid-air tag over the bag to extinguish San Francisco's last-chance rally. Two pitches later, Ricketts made a diving stop up the line at first for the contest's final out, and San Diego had evened the series at a game apiece with a 7-5 victory.

The Toreros will look to win their third West Coast Conference series of the season in the series finale tomorrow afternoon. First pitch at Fowler Park is set for 1 p.m.

"It's the WCC, man, (every game is) important," Hill said of the pivotal Sunday matchup. "We got our work cut out for us."