SAN DIEGO – In its West Coast Conference opener, San Diego baseball lost 5-4 to Saint Mary's after the Gaels broke the tie with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning Friday afternoon at Fowler Park.  

The Toreros (11-9, 0-1 WCC) were unable to capitalize in their half of the ninth as they struck out 12 times, compared to getting seven hits against the Gaels (11-8, 1-0 WCC).  

San Diego, which had a three-run fifth inning that was highlighted by a couple of small ball plays, had leads of 1-0 and 4-3 but could not quite get the win in game one of the series-opening doubleheader. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Junior pitcher Austin Smith helped himself out by jumping on the first pitch and taking it up the middle for an RBI single to score senior second baseman Angelo Peraza to open the scoring in the bottom of the first inning.  
• Saint Mary's evened the scoring at one apiece on an RBI single to left in the top of the third inning and took the lead with two solo home runs, one to left center and one to right field in the fourth. 
• In the bottom of the fifth inning, the bottom of the Toreros lineup came through as the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 hitters all recorded singles including senior third baseman Will Worthington recorded an RBI single, scoring senior center fielder Dustin Allen to cut the deficit down to one. 
• After a sacrifice bunt by Peraza to put runners at second and third, junior shortstop Justin Decriscio recorded an RBI single to center to score junior catcher Ariel Armas to tie the game.
• The fifth inning continued when sophomore first baseman Jack Gurevitch laid down a bunt on a safety squeeze play. Worthington scored as Gurevitch reached safely on the fielder's choice to retake the lead and cap off a three-run inning. 
• In the top of the seventh, after a pitching change for San Diego, the Gaels recorded an RBI single as a result of an obstruction on Worthington to tie the game at 4-4.
• The game remained tied at 4-4 heading into the final frame before extra innings. In the top of the frame the Gaels took the lead on a sacrifice fly to left field. 
• In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Toreros recorded two popups and a strikeout to lose the one-run game in the conference opener.  

ON THE MOUND

• After a scoreless first inning by retiring the Gaels in order, Smith allowed a leadoff double to start the second, but was able to strand him at third base, retiring the next three hitters with two groundouts and a strikeout. 
• Following the two home runs that Smith allowed in the fourth inning, he was able to get out of frame with a groundout and his fourth strikeout of the afternoon. 
• Smith's day was done after four innings. He gave up six hits, three earned runs, two walks and struck out four in 80 pitches, 50 for strikes. 
• Graduate student Alex Schrier took over in the fifth inning. He got the first two hitters to go down via the strikeout before allowing a walk and inducing a groundout to finish his frame. 
• Schrier continued for the sixth and fired a one, two, three scoreless inning to bring the momentum back in favor of the Toreros.  
• In the seventh, Schrier recorded an out before passing the ball over to senior Conner Thurman. Schrier went 2.1 innings allowing one hit, one earned run, two walks and struck out three in 46 pitches, 28 for strikes. 
• Thurman, who inherited runners at first and second with one out in the seventh, gave up an RBI single, but responded with a strikeout and fielder's choice to end the inning.  
• In the eighth, junior Drake Frize was the Toreros third man out of the bullpen. Despite allowing a one-out single that one-hopped the left wall, Frize was able to get a groundout and pop-up in front of the Gaels' dugout for a scoreless inning.
• Frize came back for the ninth inning. Frize limited the damage with the lone run on the sacrifice fly despite loading the bases. 

TORERO TIDBITS 

• Peraza's first-inning double was his fifth of the season. 
• The two sacrifice bunts in the fifth inning by Peraza and Gurevitch gave San Diego its 16th and 17th sacrifice hits this season, the most in the WCC and tied for 10th in the country. 
• Allen's two hits marked his fifth multi-hit game this season as he increased his batting average to .299. His run in the fifth inning was his 14th time touching home plate, which ranks tied for second with Gurevitch and Smith in that category. 
• Thurman was able to lower his earned run average to 1.46 after getting the final two outs in the seventh inning for his 10th scoreless outing in 11 appearances this season.