PHOENIX — San Diego baseball (6-6, 0-0 WCC) led in the eighth inning but could not hang on to secure the victory against Grand Canyon (9-5, 3-0 WAC) on Friday night, dropping a 6-5 decision to the Lopes at GCU Ballpark in what marked USD's first road game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- GCU plated three runs in the top of the first via a pair of doubles, an infield single and a throwing error.
- Sophomore infielder Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School) answered back an inning later with a towering solo shot over the left field wall that brought San Diego within two at 3-1 and gave him his sixth home run of 2022.
- Fellow sophomore Jack Costello (utility player) got in on the action in the third, tying the game at three when he dumped a double into right field that scored sophomore infielder Chase Meidroth and sophomore center fielder Dustin Allen.
- In the fourth, junior outfielder/first baseman Max Jung-Goldberg pushed USD ahead with an RBI ground ball to third base that plated Sim, then Allen brought another run home with a sharp ground ball to shortstop that allowed redshirt sophomore Camden Vasquez to dash home and made the score 5-3 in favor of the Toreros.
- A two-run home run in the eighth from Grand Canyon's Tayler Aguilar tied the game at five before a single (Jaxson Wall) and an RBI double (Elijah Buries) in the bottom of the ninth pushed the Lopes to a 6-5 walk-off win at GCU Ballpark.
TORERO TIDBITS
- Senior right-handed pitcher Garrett Rennie turned in another solid start on the mound Friday, scattering seven hits across six innings while allowing just two earned runs, walking two, and striking out a pair of Lopes.
- Sim led the way for USD at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance that featured a double, a home run, two runs scored, and an RBI.
- Both Meidroth and Vasquez — who hails from nearby Gilbert, Arizona — were 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored.
UP NEXT
The Toreros continue their series against Grand Canyon tomorrow evening. First pitch at GCU Ballpark is set for 5 p.m. PST.
