LA JOLLA, Calif. — An impressive team effort on the mound, outstanding defense, and some timely late-game hitting powered San Diego baseball (12-14-1, 5-4 WCC) to a 5-2 midweek win at UC San Diego (17-9, 7-2 Big West) on Tuesday, earning the Toreros their third consecutive victory as they began a five-game road stint.

USD got on the board first with a pair of early runs before UCSD tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth, where it remained until the Toreros plated three in the top of the ninth to secure the win.

COSTELLO GOES YARD, PERAZA AND GUREVITCH COME UP CLUTCH

• Junior utility player Jack Costello got the scoring started in the top of the second with his seventh home run of 2023, hammering the second pitch he saw for a solo shot that landed beneath the trolley tracks beyond Triton Ballpark's left-field fence.
• USD added on an inning later in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly from junior utility player Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School) that plated graduate transfer infielder James Arakawa (Pacific), making it 2-0.
• UC San Diego answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings on a fielder's choice and a wild pitch, moving the score to 2-2.
• The Toreros and Tritons remained knotted at two runs apiece until the top of the ninth, when San Diego scored three on an RBI double down the first-base line from Peraza that plated Arakawa, an RBI single from freshman infielder/designated hitter Jack Gurevitch that came after UCSD intentionally walked Sim, and an RBI foul fly ball deep down the left-field line from Costello that sent home Sim, giving USD a 5-2 lead it would not relinquish.

ALL HANDS ON DECK

• Sophomore right-hander Jack Bunnell began Tuesday night's game on the mound for USD in what marked his San Diego debut and turned in a scoreless first inning.
• Three freshman right-handers followed with impressive relief appearances across the game's middle stages, with Peter Michael (one inning), Tristan LaMaison (one inning), and Aídan Gonzalez (two innings) all holding the Tritons scoreless.
• Redshirt freshman righty Nick Suspenzi was next with a scoreless seventh, then freshman right-hander JD Goodcase (0.2 innings) and freshman lefty Mikiah Negrete (the game's final 1.1 frames) teamed up to close out the Toreros' 5-2 win without allowing a run.

TORERO TIDBITS

• San Diego outhit UC San Diego by a 13-3 margin on Tuesday night, with five Toreros recording two hits (Arakawa, Peraza, Costello, Worthington, and Semo).
• Arakawa led the Toreros with two runs scored, while Costello notched a game-high two RBIs.
• Sim was 1-for-2 with a game-high two walks, an RBI, and a run scored.
• Semo's 2-for-4 performance marked his third multi-hit game of the season, while Worthington's 2-for-4 evening was the second time he has had more than one hit in a game in 2023.
• Gonzalez and Negrete tied for the game high with two strikeouts apiece.
• Negrete picked up the win on Tuesday to move to 2-2 in 2023.

UP NEXT
The Toreros are back in action on Thursday night, when they resume West Coast Conference play with a crucial series at Gonzaga. First pitch in the series opener at the Patterson Baseball Complex in Spokane — which will be televised nationally on ESPNU — is set for 8:00 p.m. PST.