SAN DIEGO — Senior
Garrett Rennie turned in a career performance on the mound and graduate student
RJ Teijeiro played the hero with a walk-off home run on Friday night, leading San Diego baseball (13-7, 3-1 WCC) to a 4-2 extra-innings win over Saint Mary's (14-8, 0-4 WCC) at Fowler Park that marked the Toreros' fourth straight victory and their second extra-innings decision in as many games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After allowing an early run on an RBI single, Rennie settled in for the most dominant start of his college career to date, tossing a career-high 7.1 innings while striking out a career-high eight, walking two, and allowing just one run.
- Redshirt sophomore outfielder Camden Vasquez got that run back in the bottom of the second, reaching on a fielder's choice to shortstop as sophomore infielder Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School) dashed home to tie the game at one.
- Teijeiro, a utility player who joined the Toreros as a transfer from UCLA last season, put San Diego ahead in the bottom of the fourth with his first hit of 2022, a sharp single to right field that plated sophomore utility player Jack Costello and pushed USD ahead 2-1.
- The Toreros led by that same margin until the top of the ninth, when Saint Mary's Trey Winget singled to right field to knot the score at 2-2.
- Graduate student Ian Churchill struck out the side to pitch a scoreless top of the tenth, then San Diego's late-game rally began.
- With two outs in the top of the 10th, junior utility player Caleb Ricketts wore a pitch to put the winning run on first base.
- Teijeiro then turned on the first pitch he saw for a towering two-run homer over Fowler Park's right field wall, lifting the Toreros to a 4-2 win over Saint Mary's.
TORERO TIDBITS
- The win marked USD's fourth in a row, second consecutive extra-innings win, and second consecutive game to go 10 innings (Tuesday night versus UC Irvine, 6-5).
- Teijeiro's walk-off homer was his first in a San Diego uniform and his second hit in his return from injury after missing USD's last 53 games dating back to March 7, 2021.
- Teijeiro, a native of Foster City, California who is pursuing a master's degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at USD, now has two hits, four RBIs, and a run scored in two games so far this season.
- Rennie's career-high 7.1 IP is the longest start by a San Diego pitcher so far this season.
- His eight strikeouts bested his seven-strikeout effort on March 4 versus Dallas Baptist.
- Meidroth put together a 3-for-5 performance, extending his hitting streak to six games and marking his third three-hit performance of the season.
- Ricketts finished a home run shy of the cycle with a 3-for-4 performance that saw him notch a single, a double, and a triple alongside a hit by pitch and a run scored.
- Ricketts scored the game-winning run for the second consecutive game after dashing home on true freshman Justin DeCriscio's RBI grounder on Tuesday.
- Costello was 1-for-5 with a run scored and is now on a three-game hit streak.
- Churchill has allowed just two runs in his last 8.2 innings pitched out of the bullpen, allowing just one walk against 12 total strikeouts in that span.
- Teijeiro was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored.
UP NEXT
The Toreros continue their West Coast Conference series with Saint Mary's tomorrow evening. First pitch at Fowler Park is set for 5 p.m.