SAN DIEGO — Four home runs headlined a stunning offensive barrage for San Diego baseball on Friday night, earning the Toreros (16-19-1, 9-7 WCC) an authoritative 17-3 win over San Francisco (14-19, 5-11 WCC) at Fowler Park.

USD scored a remarkable nine runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back, setting new season highs in both hits (17) and runs scored as it dominated the Dons to kick off a three-game West Coast Conference series. Jack Gurevitch led the charge at the plate with a pair of homers and a game-high five RBIs, while two-way player Austin Smith paced the pitching staff with five solid innings and five strikeouts on the mound to go with two hits and two RBIs of his own at the plate.

BIG FIRST INNING IGNITES EXPLOSIVE PERFORMANCE 

• After Justin DeCriscio led off the bottom of the first with a single, Gurevitch struck out, and Angelo Peraza beat out a ground ball to prevent what would have been an inning-ending double play, the Toreros brought another 10 batters to the plate and scored nine runs in the following fashion:
  • An RBI single to right field from Kevin Sim that plated Peraza after a USF error
  • An RBI single to left field from Will Worthington
  • An RBI single to center field from Smith
  • A bases-loaded walk after working a full count from Brayden Grantham
  • A two-RBI single down the third-base line from DeCriscio (who led off the inning)
  • An opposite-field homer to left from Gurevitch
• By the end of the frame San Diego led 9-0.
• The Dons answered with two runs in the top of the second on a pair of RBI singles, but Smith responded with another RBI single in the bottom half of the frame to make it 10-1.
• USD added on in the fourth with a towering two-run shot from Sim and an RBI double off the left-center field wall from Ariel Armas, expanding its lead to 13-2.
• San Francisco pushed across one final run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly before San Diego delivered a quartet of finishing blows in the seventh, scoring four times on home runs from both Armas (solo, left field) and Gurevitch (two-run, left field) to secure a 14-run lead it would not relinquish.

SMITH SETS THE TONE, BULLPEN STAYS HOT

• Smith started Friday night's game on the mound for the Toreros and turned in five solid innings, allowing three runs while scattering seven hits, walking none, and striking out five.
• James Sashin was first out of the bullpen in relief of Smith and set forth a scoreless sixth while working around two hits.
• Aídan Gonzalez, Mikiah Negrete, and Chase Minor followed with one scoreless inning apiece to close out the game.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Sim tallied a game-high three hits on Friday night, followed by DeCriscio, Gurevitch, Worthington, Smith, and Armas, who all had two.
• Gurevitch's career-high two home runs earned him a career-high five RBIs.
• DeCriscio, Smith, Sim, and Armas all drove in two runs.
• Dustin Allen led the game with three runs scored, followed by Gurevitch, Peraza, Sim, Armas, and Grantham, who all scored twice.
• Grantham began the game at second base in what marked his first college start and appearance in the field after seeing action four times earlier this season as a pinch runner.
• He went 1-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI, and a game-high two walks, a performance that included his first college hit (an eighth-inning single).
• Gurevitch, Armas, and Sim's home runs on Friday night marked the second time this season that USD has hit four home runs in one game (March 26 at Santa Clara).
• San Diego pitchers did not issue a walk on Friday.
• Smith earned the win to move to 3-1 in 2023.
• USD's 17 runs and 17 hits are the most they've recorded in a game since May 27, 2022, when the Toreros scored 22 times on 19 hits in a win over Portland as part of the WCC Tournament at Banner Island Ballpark.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will continue their series with the Dons tomorrow evening. First pitch at Fowler Park is set for 5:00 p.m.