SAN DIEGO — Three timely RBIs from Angelo Peraza and a masterful, dominant start on the mound from Austin Smith pushed San Diego baseball (22-22-1, 15-9 WCC) past BYU (19-26, 9-12 WCC) by a 5-1 margin on Saturday afternoon, earning the Toreros a series-clinching victory on Senior Day as they took two of three from the Cougars.

PERAZA CLUTCHES UP

• After both teams went scoreless through the game's first three frames, Peraza got the Toreros on the board first in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly.
• BYU responded with a run in the top of the fifth on an RBI groundout, but Peraza had an answer in the bottom of the sixth, driving a two-RBI triple deep into the right-center field gap to put USD back in front by a score of 3-1.
• Gabe D'Arcy added on later in the inning with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1, then Peraza came around to score from third on a wild pitch in the top of the eight to give the Toreros a 5-1 advantage they did not relinquish.

SMITH DAZZLES IN CAREER-BEST START

• Smith started the game on the mound for the Toreros and turned in the finest start of his young college career thus far, scattering four hits across a career-high 6.2 innings of one-run ball while walking none and striking out a career-high 11.
• He began his outing with four perfect frames that included striking out six consecutive batters across the third and fourth innings.
• Smith was relieved by Conner Thurman with two outs and runners on first and second in the top of the seventh.
• Thurman promptly stranded both runners before firing two more scoreless frames, working around two hits and a walk with five strikeouts to close the game out for USD.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Peraza paced the USD offense with a 1-for-2 performance that included two runs scored and a game-high three RBIs.
• Arakawa led the Toreros with two hits and joined Peraza in scoring a pair of runs.
• D'Arcy, Worthington, Jack Gurevitch, Ariel Armas, and Ian Blazier also all drew a free pass.
• Smith's 11 strikeouts on Saturday are the most by a Torero in a single game this season.
• In addition to his dominant performance on the mound, Smith also contributed a single and drew a walk at the plate.
• Smith picked up his fourth win of the season on Saturday to move to 4-1 in 2023, and Thurman earned his second save of the year. 
• San Diego has now won three consecutive WCC series and has prevailed in eight of its last 10 conference contests.
• Saturday marked USD's Senior Day, with Andrew Semo, James Arakawa, Jack Hyde, Garrett Rennie, Conner Thurman, Ryan Robinson, and Will Worthington recognized in a pregame on-field ceremony.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will close out their 2023 home schedule on Tuesday evening with a midweek non-conference matchup against UC Irvine. First pitch at Fowler Park is set for 6 p.m.