SAN DIEGO — Two home runs from Jack Costello headlined an offensive barrage for San Diego baseball on Friday afternoon, earning the Toreros (4-0-1, 0-0 WCC) a dominant 14-2 win over Hawaii (3-2, 0-0 Mountain West) at Fowler Park as part of the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament.

USD scored two in the first, three in the third, one in the fourth, five in the sixth, and three in the seventh to secure a victory in which they never trailed.

Led by a career-high 4.2 strong innings from redshirt junior starter James Sashin, four Toreros teamed up on the mound to hold Hawaii to just two runs on two hits..

Costello now has a team-high four homers on the year — all in his last two games — after going yard twice both on Friday versus the Rainbow Warriors and on Monday opposite Nebraska.

TORERO BATS SET THE TONE

• Costello (junior third baseman) got the scoring started in the bottom of the first by picking up right where he left off on Monday, hammering an inside fastball over Fowler Park's left-field fence for a two-run shot that plated fellow junior Kevin Sim (infielder) and gave San Diego an early 2-0 lead.
• It was Costello again when USD added on in the bottom of the third, lacing a sharp line drive through the right side to score junior center fielder Dustin Allen.
• A batter later, Sim (Torrey Pines High School) showed all the reasons why he was the reigning WCC Player of the Week and shot a hard grounder through the 5.5 hole, bringing in Costello to make it 4-0.
• Sophomore transfer two-way player Austin Smith (UC San Diego, Granite Hills High School) followed with a perfectly placed bloop single into shallow left that plated Sim, and by the end of the frame the Toreros enjoyed a commanding 5-0 advantage.
• Junior utility player Angelo Peraza added on in the bottom of the fourth by sending a solo homer to the deepest part of Fowler Park, a no-doubt shot that sailed over the left-center field fence to make it 6-0.
• Hawaii finally responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, but after the Rainbow Warriors intentionally walked Sim to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, graduate infielder James Arakawa made them pay, shooting a sharp two-RBI single to right-center field to bring in Costello and Peraza and extend the USD lead to six.
• Junior infielder Will Worthington was next in line to add to the San Diego advantage and did so with his first hit of 2023, a line-drive double that brought home Sim and Arakawa to move the score to 11-2 in USD's favor after just six innings of play.
• Costello closed out the Toreros' scoring efforts in the bottom of the seventh with another homer, once again turning on an inside fastball for the finishing blow, a missile of a three-run shot that scored Allen and Peraza and gave San Diego a 14-2 advantage it did not relinquish.

A (DOMINANT) TEAM EFFORT ON THE MOUND

• Redshirt junior right-hander James Sashin started the game on the mound for the Toreros and turned in the longest and most dominant start of his career: a 4.2-inning, two-run (one earned) effort that saw him work around five walks and two hits with a trio of strikeouts.
• He was relieved in the fifth by freshman righty Aídan Gonzalez, who tossed 1.1 perfect frames.
• Redshirt freshman right-hander Nick Suspenzi was next out of the bullpen to make his college debut, which proved to be a successful one.
• The Scottsdale, Arizona native threw a scoreless and perfect seventh before handing the ball off to freshman righty Mason Schmidt, who tossed a scoreless eighth in his own college debut.
• Freshman right-hander JD Goodcase spun a perfect ninth to close out the contest, striking out one as he secured San Diego a convincing 14-2 victory over Hawaii at Fowler Park.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Costello (3-for-4), Peraza (3-for-5), and DeCriscio (3-for-4) each had a team-high three hits, with Peraza setting a new career-high and DeCriscio tying his career-high.
• Costello hit two home runs for the second consecutive game, and Peraza homered for the second consecutive game.
• Peraza and Costello each had a team and career-high four runs scored, while Costello paced the USD offense with a career-high six RBIs.
• Worthington and Arakawa joined Costello in notching multiple RBIs (two), while Peraza, Sim, and Smith each drove in one.
• Allen walked twice and scored two runs, and Costello, Sim, and Smith all walked once.
• Suspenzi and Schmidt each threw a scoreless inning in their college debut, while Gonzalez earned his first college win to move to 1-0.
• USD's 14-2 victory over Hawaii was its first since 2008, when All-American left-handed pitcher Josh Romanski led the Toreros to a 6-1 victory in Honolulu.
• Former USD head coach and current Hawaii head coach Rich Hill — who coached the Toreros to that win over the Rainbow Warriors in 2008 — was honored prior to Friday afternoon's game in what marked his first return to Fowler Park for a game since stepping down at USD in 2021.
• Hill, who amassed nearly 750 wins at the helm in San Diego and steered the Toreros to seven WCC championships and eight NCAA regional appearances while helping 93 players sign professional contracts (including 2016 National League Most Valuable Player Kris Bryant), received a commemorative surfboard after a video played on Fowler Park's new video board.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will continue play in the Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament on Sunday evening when they play host to UNLV. First pitch at Fowler Park is set for 6:00 p.m.