SAN DIEGO — Back-to-back home runs from Austin Smith and Jakob Christian complemented a stingy performance from the Torero pitching staff on Friday afternoon, earning San Diego baseball (18-10, 5-2 WCC) a 5-3 victory over Loyola Marymount (12-17, 1-5 WCC) that marked the Toreros' seventh win in a row and the 11th time they have prevailed in their last 14 games.

Smith and Christian's early home runs provided a cushion for San Diego starter Josh Randall, who struck out six and allowed just one hit across 5.1 innings but surrendered three earned runs while walking four. 

After Angelo Peraza added on with a fourth-inning homer of his own, Drake Frize and Smith teamed up to close out the game with a pair of dominant outings in relief, striking out the side in both the eighth (Frize) and the ninth (Smith) to secure the win for USD.

POWER SURGE

• Both teams remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Smith started a two-out rally by turning on a towering three-run shot to left field to notch his seventh homer of the year.
• Christian immediately followed with a homer of his own in the next at-bat, sending a solo shot over Fowler Park's center field wall and onto Manchester Field to give the Toreros a 4-0 advantage after the third inning of play via back-to-back longballs.
• Peraza continued his team's momentum through to the fourth inning by blasting a solo homer into right-center field to make it 5-0 in his team's favor.
• LMU scored three runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI single, an RBI hit-by-pitch, and an RBI groundout, to cut the San Diego lead to 5-3 but got no closer.

TOREROS TEAM UP FOR COMBINED TWO-HITTER 

• Randall was dominant until the top of the fifth, when he issued a pair of walks and surrendered a single to load the bases with one out.
• Conner Thurman entered in relief of Randall and allowed a trio of runs to score but ultimately settled in for 1.2 solid innings.  
• Frize was next out of the bullpen and struck out the side to complete a scoreless eighth.
• Smith — who had already homered and driven in three runs as the Toreros' designated hitter on Friday — took the mound in the ninth and followed Frize's lead, striking out the side as he tossed a perfect ninth to seal the victory.

NOTABLE

• Randall earned the win on Friday, moving him to 1-0 in 2024 as he collected his first victory.
• Eight different Toreros recorded a hit in Friday afternoon's win. 
• Christian's 3-for-4 mark on Friday moves his hit streak to seven consecutive games, and earned him his fifth consecutive multi-hit game.
• Ariel Armas was 3-for-4 in Friday's victory, extending his hit streak to five games.
• Smith leads the Toreros with three saves in 2024.
• Smith and Christian's back-to-back home runs in the third inning marked the second time the Toreros have homered in consecutive at-bats this season after Jack Costello and Smith did so in the first inning against Arizona on February 24.
• Friday's game marks the third time this season that Smith and Christian have gone yard in the same game.
• Gurevitch's third-inning single extended his hit streak to eight games. 
• Each of the three Toreros who homered on Friday afternoon are San Diego natives. Smith attended Granite Hills High School, and Christian and Peraza both attended Saint Augustine High School. 
• Friday's game was originally stated to begin at 6:05 p.m., but was moved to 1:05 p.m. due to inclement weather. After a 30-plus-minute delay, the contest eventually began at 1:35 p.m.

UP NEXT 
The Toreros are back in action tomorrow evening, when they return to Fowler Park for the middle game of their series with Loyola Marymount. First pitch against the Lions is set for 5:05 p.m.