SPOKANE, Wash. — San Diego baseball scored nine times across the final three innings of its series finale against Gonzaga on Sunday, earning the Toreros (17-25, 11-4 WCC) a hard-fought 15-9 win over the Bulldogs (19-21, 11-4 WCC) at the Patterson Baseball Complex as they took two of three from GU on the weekend to move atop the West Coast Conference standings. 

USD jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the top of the second inning when AJ Beltre, AJ Anzai, and Jayden Lobliner ripped back-to-back-to-back home runs, Jack Gurevitch notched an RBI triple, and Austin Smith recorded a sacrifice fly, but it wouldn't be enough on a sunny afternoon in Spokane. 

The Zags answered with two runs in the fourth, then surged ahead by a 6-5 margin on a go-ahead three-run homer. After a solo homer from GU in the fourth, San Diego found itself chasing by two as the score moved to 7-5.

Freshman Rex Watson began the Toreros' comeback efforts in the fifth by turning on a high fastball for a solo home run to make it 7-6 before Gonzaga pushed a run across an inning later with an RBI single.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the seventh, Austin Smith sent a sacrifice fly to deep center field to send home Connor Meidroth and cut the Zags' lead to just one, 8-7.

Rex Watson grounded into a would-be double play ball with one out and runners at the corners in the following at-bat, but beat the throw to first with a daring headfirst slide that was upheld after a video review. His hustle play extended the inning and allowed Jack Gurevitch to score from third and tie the game 8-8.

San Diego's first two batters were retired without incident in the top of the eighth, bringing Aden Howard to the plate with nobody on base. He hammered the second pitch he saw over the Patterson Baseball Complex's right-field wall for a stunning go-ahead solo home run that marked the first round-tripper of his college career. The inning snowballed from there for the Toreros, as they extended their newfound lead when Smith sent a run home with a ground ball to first base and Watson sent an opposite-field RBI single to shallow left field. By the end of the frame USD had taken a commanding 12-8 advantage.

Gonzaga got a run back in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run but got no closer. The Toreros responded by scoring twice in their final at-bats via a sacrifice fly from Meidroth and a solo homer from Gurevitch.

David Horn Jr. started the game for San Diego and allowed two earned runs across 1.1 innings. Porter Rovin recorded the Toreros' longest relief appearance of the day (2.2 innings) before handing the ball to Smith, who took the mound from center field in the sixth. Smith (3-4) received the win after tossing 2.1 innings while allowing just one run, eventually quieting the Gonzaga offense as he and the Torero bats roared back to life and took the lead. Dallin Harrison needed just nine pitches to twirl a perfect ninth and seal the comeback victory for USD.

NOTABLE

• Watson paced the San Diego offense with a tied-for-game-high four RBIs. 
• Gurevitch drove in three and came around to score a tied-for-game-high four runs 
• Jayden Lobliner stayed hot with another three hits. Meidroth, Gurevitch, Watson, and Isaiah Lane all had two.
• Gurevitch drew a game-high two walks; Lane and Anzai received the Toreros' only other free passes.
• Lane and Meidroth were both hit by pitches on Sunday.
• Rovin, Hayden Cody, and Harrison each struck out one batter apiece, marking the only three strikeouts by San Diego pitchers in the game.

UP NEXT
The Toreros are back in action tomorrow night, when they return home to host UC Santa Barbara at Fowler Park. First pitch against the Gauchos is set for 4:05 p.m.