SAN DIEGO — Sophomore lefty Brycen Mautz dazzled on the mound and four Toreros notched two-hit games as San Diego baseball (14-7, 4-1 WCC) earned its fifth straight victory and its second West Coast Conference series win in a row with a 4-1 decision over Saint Mary's (14-9, 0-5 WCC) on Saturday night at Fowler Park.

A TEAM EFFORT AT THE PLATE

• True freshman infielder Justin DeCriscio got the scoring started in the bottom of the second, shooting a sharp RBI single through the left side that plated sophomore infielder Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School) and put San Diego up 1-0.
• Two innings later, junior shortstop Cody Jefferis doubled the USD advantage with a sacrifice fly to center field, bringing home redshirt sophomore outfielder Camden Vasquez to make it 2-0.
• Saint Mary's got one back in the fifth via a home run from Dalton Mashore that cut the Toreros' lead to 2-1, but Vasquez had an answer of his own later in the game.
• With runners on the corners and one out in the eighth, the Gilbert, Arizona native hammered the first pitch he saw deep into the right-center field gap, bringing home both junior utility player Caleb Ricketts and sophomore utility player Jack Costello to provide San Diego some critical insurance runs and move the score to 4-1 in favor of USD.

MAUTZ AND THURMAN SHUT DOWN GAELS

• Mautz (Westview High School) threw 6.2 frames of one-run ball on Saturday, a third of an inning shy of his career-long on the mound (7.0 IP at Grand Canyon on March 12) and the fourth time in his last five starts that he's gone at least six innings while surrendering one run or less.
• His final line on Saturday: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, and 7 K on 89 pitches.
• The San Diego, California native handed the ball off to redshirt sophomore right-hander Conner Thurman in the top of the seventh with runners on second and third and one out.
• Thurman promptly stranded Mautz's final baserunners of the evening enroute to a dominant night out of the bullpen, throwing 2.1 scoreless, one-hit innings while walking none and striking out four to secure his team a 4-1 win.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Vasquez led the way for the Toreros at the plate with a 1-for-3 performance, coming around to score a run in addition to a game-high two runs batted in.
• DeCriscio, Sim, Allen, and Costello all had two hits, and Costello and Sim both notched a run scored.
• Jefferis was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
• Thurman earned his second save of the season.

UP NEXT
The Toreros conclude their series with Saint Mary's tomorrow afternoon as they look to sweep the three-game set. First pitch at Fowler Park is set for 1 p.m.