SAN DIEGO — A five-run eighth inning and a pair of dynamic pitching performances powered San Diego baseball (3-2, 0-0 WCC) to a big 10-8 win over Arizona (3-2, 0-0 Pac-12) on Friday night, earning the Toreros a second straight victory as they kicked off their first home series of 2023 on Opening Night at Fowler Park.

The two teams traded leads through the first six innings of play before the Toreros took charge in the eighth with a flurry of RBI doubles from Gabe D'Arcy, Will Worthington, Ryan Ward, and Jack Costello. USD's offensive onslaught gave it a six-run cushion heading to the ninth, which was enough for Conner Thurman to close things out and seal the win.

Josh Randall and Calvin Schapira set the stage for San Diego's late-game surge by dominating on the mound, combining for eight innings and a remarkable 18 strikeouts while allowing only three hits, one walk, and zero earned runs.

DOUBLE DOWN

• Jack Gurevitch got the scoring started in the bottom of the first for USD with an RBI single through the right side, driving in Justin DeCriscio to score the first run of Friday night's series opener.
• Angelo Peraza continued the early rally for the Toreros by knocking an RBI single of his own through to the right side, plating Costello to add another run and give San Diego an early 2-0 advantage.
• An inning later, DeCriscio added on with a sacrifice bunt to score Worthington, making it 3-0, USD.
• The Wildcats responded in the top of the fourth by recording a pair of two-RBI doubles, scoring four unearned runs to take a 4-3 lead.
• After Decriscio crushed a double off the left field wall in the bottom of the fifth, Costello drove him in with an RBI groundout , knotting the game up at four runs apiece.
• Dustin Allen crushed a double in the bottom of the seventh, which made way for Costello to step up to the plate and deliver another clutch RBI single that gave San Diego a one-run, 5-4 lead.
• With runners at the corners in the bottom of the eighth, Gabe D'Arcy kicked off USD's late-game surge by looping an RBI double down the left-field line to plate Peraza and advance Smith to third, moving the score to 6-4, Toreros.
• Worthington then stepped to the plate and delivered perhaps the evening's most decisive blow: a well-hit double straight down the left field line that brought in both D'Arcy and Smith to put San Diego up 8-4.
• Ward and Costello followed with a pair of RBI doubles to bring in two more runs, giving USD a 10-4 lead heading to the final inning of play.
• Arizona scored four times in the top of the ninth to pull within a pair but got no closer, suffering a 10-8 defeat to the Toreros after Thurman held strong to close things out.

STRIKEOUTS GALORE 

• Randall — who spent the first two seasons of his college career at Arizona — started Friday night's game on the mound and turned in five strong innings against his former team, allowing four runs (zero earned) on three hits while walking just one and striking out a career-high 10.
• Schapira followed with an impeccable performance out of the bullpen to bridge the gap to the ninth, delivering three perfect innings while striking out eight of the nine batters he faced.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Costello paced the USD offense with a run scored and three RBIs on two hits and a walk.
• His performance was complemented by another outstanding night for Gurevitch, who had a game-high three hits and drove in a run.
• Worthington scored two runs and added two hits, including a clutch two-RBI double in the eighth.
• San Diego's seven doubles on Friday night is more than twice the amount of doubles it recorded across its first four games. 
• The Toreros' 19 combined strikeouts against Arizona on Friday night are the most USD has recorded as a team in a single game since March 16, 2008, when Kyle Blair and Scott Denault teamed up to record 16 in a 15-0 win at the University of Hawaii Hilo.
• Friday night's victory over the Wildcats is USD's 10th win over a Power-5 opponent since the beginning of the 2022 season, which marked head coach Brock Ungricht first year at the helm in San Diego.

UP NEXT
The Toreros are set to continue their series with the Wildcats tomorrow night. First pitch at Fowler Park in game two is set for 6:05 p.m.