SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball (28-8, 14-4 WCC) earned a walkoff win versus Pepperdine (14-19, 6-9 WCC) on Sunday afternoon to cap a wild weekend at Fowler Park, completing a five-run comeback to prevail by a 10-9 margin and earn its eighth consecutive victory and a sweep for the second series in a row.

The Toreros' remarkable comeback began in the bottom of the ninth, when graduate student Thomas Luevano and freshman Will Worthington walked and junior Tora Otsuka was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Sophomore Caleb Ricketts then doubled down the left field line on the second pitch he saw, clearing the bases to bring USD to within one run.

Freshman infielder Chase Meidroth kept the line moving with a clutch, pinch-hit single in just his third at-bat of the 2021 season, advancing Ricketts to third. After working a full count, true freshman Jack Costello sent another single through the left side of the infield, plating Ricketts and moving true freshman Dustin Allen — who had pinch ran for Meidroth at first base after his single — to third. Sophomore Cody Jefferis then drew the Toreros' third walk of the inning after working another full count to set the stage for another decisive finish at Fowler Park. On the first pitch of his at-bat in what marked his second at-bat of the inning, Luevano wore a fastball from Pepperdine's Dane Morrow, recording a game-winning RBI hit by pitch to earn his team a 10-9 comeback win.

"Today, I don't even know what to say," said USD head coach Rich Hill — whose team is 19-2 at home in 2021 — after the game. "That was just 'Fowler Magic' at its best. Our guys just believe that we're gonna find a way to win whenever we're at home, and it was a pretty crazy finish."

Redshirt sophomore Ryan Robinson and freshman Lucas Braun provided stability on the mound in the game's later frames, combining for 4.1 scoreless innings with five strikeouts to conclude the contest. Robinson scattered four hits across 1.2 innings in relief, while Braun matched a season high in strikeouts (three) in 2.2 one-hit innings of work out of the bullpen to receive his second win of 2021.

'If there's one story of this game, it's Lucas Braun," Hill said of his young right-handed reliever after the last out. "That's a big weekend series where he threw 2 2/3s scoreless, sat at 91 (MPH), threw his curveball for a strike, and allowed us to get back into the game and have that big inning at the end."

The Toreros' 10-9 win marks the team's third straight conference series victory and fifth overall sweep of the 2021 season. It also marked the culmination of a a whirlwind weekend that saw San Diego pivot to playing a new opponent in a new location in just several hours.

"We have a saying: 'Pass the torch,'" Hill said as he reflected on the weekend. "And our guys have really bought into it, it's been somebody different every day. I think our guys really believe we can come back from anything."

USD returns to action on Thursday, May 6 at Fowler Park as it continues WCC play with the first of three matchups versus BYU. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.