SAN DIEGO — Freshman Chase Meidroth launched a pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, but a last-chance USD comeback fell short late Friday night at Fowler Park, dealing the Toreros (28-10, 14-6 WCC) an 11-10 defeat at the hands of conference opponent BYU (19-23, 11-9 WCC).

Meidroth's longball was the first of his college career and began what was ultimately a four-run ninth inning for San Diego. True freshman Angelo Peraza began it with an infield single before Meidroth went yard, then sophomores Max Jung-Goldberg and Cody Jefferis added singles of their own to restart the rally. Both would come around to score on RBI groundouts from junior Shane McGuire and senior Adam Lopez, but USD would go no further, falling a run short of a tie and two runs shy of its third walk-off win of the season.

San Diego struck first with a run in the top of the first (graduate student Thomas Luevano's 55th RBI of 2021) but fell behind early after the Cougars plated seven runs in the top of the second and spent nearly the entirety of the game playing catchup. The Toreros pulled within three runs of BYU three times, including their ninth inning comeback, but could never fully close the gap on the Cougars.

Jefferis, Luevano, and sophomore Caleb Ricketts led the USD offense with three hits apiece, while McGuire recorded two hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs. Sophomore Max Jung-Goldberg joined Meidroth in putting together an impressive night off the bench, going 2-for-2 with a run scored and a run batted in after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh.

On the mound, San Diego's relievers did their best to hang tough after being tasked with the game's final 7.2 innings. Senior lefty Grady Miller turned in the Toreros' longest outing of the evening with 2.1 frames of one-run ball with three strikeouts, while freshman Brycen Mautz set forth USD's lone scoreless performance out of the bullpen, throwing 1.1 run-free innings with a single strikeout. As a whole the Toreros' relief corps stranded 14 BYU baserunners on the evening, with both Grady Miller and sophomore right-hander Jack Dolak working their way out of bases-loaded jams.

The WCC series concludes tomorrow afternoon at Fowler Park. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.