CORVALLIS, Ore. — San Diego baseball brought the go-ahead run to the plate in its final at-bat on Sunday afternoon, but an eighth-inning homer provided enough cushion for No. 8 Oregon State (10-3) to get past the Toreros (2-13, 0-0 WCC) by a 5-2 margin in the weekend finale at Goss Stadium.
With USD trailing 2-0 in the top of the sixth, an RBI double from
Austin Smith drove home
Isaiah Lane, who had reached on a walk. The score stayed at 2-1 until the Beavers' Dallas Macias yanked a two-out three-run shot over the right-field wall to expand OSU's advantage to 6-1 and send the Toreros to the ninth chasing by five.
AJ Anzai began a last-chance rally for USD with one out in what ultimately proved to be the game's final frame by drawing a pinch-hit walk. Another pinch hitter,
Cade Martinez, did the same for San Diego in the following at-bat — this time on four pitches — and after
Gabe D'Arcy slapped a single into center field the Toreros had the bases loaded.
After
Aden Howard was retired to bring USD down to its final out,
Isaiah Lane drew his second walk of the afternoon to push home pinch runner
Ryan Ward and pull San Diego back within four.
Jack Gurevitch strode to the plate representing the go-ahead run and battled his way through a seven-pitch at-bat before swinging and missing at the eighth one he saw, drawing another tense matchup in Corvallis to a close as the Toreros fell in front of 3,647 fans.
Graduate transfer
Andrew Mosiello was solid in his third consecutive Sunday start on the mound, holding Oregon State to two runs on four hits across four innings while walking two and striking out three.
Fernando Palencia (1.1 IP) and
Dallin Harrison (0.2 IP) combined for two scoreless frames in relief of Mosiello, which helped keep San Diego within a run of OSU until there were two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
NOTABLE
- Gurevitch doubled as part of USD's only two-hit performance on Sunday afternoon.
- Palencia worked around a walk and a single in the fifth before Harrison stranded a pair of his runners in the bottom of the sixth to allow them to both emerge from their outings unscathed.
- Howard ripped a double to left-center field in the top of the sixth but was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple.
- Vanderbilt transfer David Horn Jr. made his first relief appearance in a San Diego uniform, entering out of the bullpen in the seventh to begin an outing that ended up spanning 1.1 innings. It marks just the second time he has pitched for USD after making his inning-long Torero debut in a start versus UC Irvine on Tuesday at Fowler Park.
UP NEXT
The Toreros will remain on the road on Tuesday, traveling up the coast for a midweek matchup against UC Santa Barbara. First pitch opposite the Gauchos at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium is set for 4:05 p.m.
