SAN DIEGO – The Torero baseball team entered Friday with a magic number of one to clinch the West Coast Conference regular season title when they began their final three-game series of the season against Pacific at Fowler Park. 

San Diego's offense, combined with Cal Scolari's pitching heroics, fueled the Toreros to a 13-1 win in mercy rule fashion and gave the program its second straight West Coast Conference title and third in the last four years. 

"They knew what was ahead of them to clinch this thing tonight, and it just all kind of came out," USD head coach Brock Ungricht said. "All their work all year, they played San Diego baseball. Just a total team effort and just the joy that those guys have what they've overcome all year, to see them put it all together, it was outstanding." 

Jayden Lobliner got the scoring started early for the Toreros (23-28, 17-5 WCC) in the first inning. He hit a line drive to the opposite field, scoring Isaiah Lane and Austin Smith, who both singled ahead of Lobliner against the Tigers (20-33, 8-14 WCC). 

On the next pitch, Rex Watson singled to left. A bobble by the Tigers left fielder gave Lobliner the opportunity to score and Watson hustled to third base on a second Pacific error. AJ Beltre then hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Watson to give the Toreros an early 4-0 lead.  

Then in the second, Lobliner kept the offense rolling with an RBI single, scoring Lane. After Watson walked to load the bases, Beltre fouled off four pitches before hitting a knock the other way, scoring both Lobliner and Smith to extend USD's lead to 7-0 after two innings.

Meanwhile, Cal Scolari, who was named WCC Freshman of the Week on Monday, did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the third inning. Ultimately, that would be the only baserunner Scolari allowed in six shutout innings. 

"That's what Cal Scolari does," Jack Gurevitch said. "I honestly think he can do that every single outing. He is unbelievable to watch. The fastball, like (Ungricht) says is electric, the off-speed stuff is really good, too. He's an uncomfortable at-bat coming personally facing him in the fall. He's a horse. I looked at him after the sixth inning, I'm like, 'That's what a horse does.' He puts the team on his back, and we go with him. He didn't pitch for results. He pitched to win."

In the bottom half of the third, Smith hit a two-out RBI single, scoring Aden Howard, who led off the inning with a base hit up the middle before stealing second base. 

Although USD didn't score in the fourth, the Torero bats returned in the fifth as Lane crushed a fastball over the center field fence, left of the batter's eye, to lead off the inning. After Smith doubled, Lobliner singled to left and with the ball getting past the Tigers' left fielder, he moved up two bases as Smith came in to score. Then Beltre singled on a hotshot to third, scoring Lobliner to take an 11-0 lead.

After Gurevitch was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth, Lane hit his second home run of the game, this one ricocheting off of the video board out in left center field to make it a 13-0 lead. 

"It's like that pass the torch mentality, like if you're not able to do it, it's going to be somebody else," Gurevitch said of his team's Nos. 2-5 hitters, who went a combined 12-for-17 Thursday. "Watching Austin Smith hit tonight, it was a clinic. He had four hits. It was unbelievable. Then, watching Jayden Lobliner go through the process of this season, of maybe not getting results early, watching getting results late at the right time, getting hot at the right time is unbelievable. Then Rex Watson is a freshman phenom. I don't think it's a mystery why he's good. He hits the ball to all fields, he has great worth ethic, and he's a great dude."

After Scolari pitched six dominant innings, Ungricht turned it over to Aídan Gonzalez, who allowed one run on four walks while striking out one before the celebrations began on Cunningham Field. 

Gurevitch said it was one thing to celebrate last year's regular season title on the road. This one felt special winning in front of the home crowd.

"It's unreal. Last year, we got to celebrate in San Francisco," Gurevitch said. "Nothing beats us celebrating in San Diego. My parents are here and being with all the guys, we're home. We're at home. This is home. So that's always a plus when you get to do that." 

NOTABLE

• USD has locked up its second straight conference regular season title and third in the last four years. With a win or a Gonzaga loss Friday, the Toreros can clinch the WCC title outright, though it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bulldogs already after taking two of three in Spokane last month. Gonzaga plays at Portland Friday.  
• Thursday marked the fifth consecutive year the Toreros have recorded at least 17 conference wins as well placing third or better in the standings.  
• Isaiah Lane went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a season-high four runs scored as he recorded his second multi-home run game of the season and first since March 1 against CSU Bakersfield. It is the third multi-home run game of the season by a Torero as Austin Smith homered twice against then-No. 14 UCLA on April 6. 
• Austin Smith went 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored Thursday. It marked his 21st multi-hit game of the season and first four-hit game of 2025. 
• Jayden Lobliner went 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored. He set a season-high in RBI and tied his single-game runs scored mark Thursday. 
• Lobliner recorded his 11th multi-hit game of 2025 and his fifth three-hit game. 
• AJ Beltre went 2-for-2 with a walk and four RBI. He extends his hitting streak to six games as it marks his second game this season with at least four RBI. 
• Cal Scolari allowed just one base runner - a third inning single - in six innings of work, which ties his career high, both coming in the last two starts. It is his third straight start throwing 6.0 innings, all of which have resulted in Torero victories. 

UP NEXT 
The Toreros and Tigers continue their three-game series with the middle game Friday at Fowler Park. First pitch between San Diego and Pacific is slated for 6:05 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+