SAN DIEGO – In the seventh inning Friday night in the middle game of the final three-game series of the regular season for San Diego at Fowler Park against Pacific, Aden Howard had a baserunning miscue, forgetting how many outs there were, resulting in a double play on a fly ball to left field with the game tied at one.  

However, in his next at-bat, the freshman would redeem himself with the infield drawn in in the bottom of the ninth inning with no outs and Ryan Ward standing at third base after tripling off the center field wall to begin the inning. Despite getting down 0-2 in the count, Howard slapped a ground ball that bounced over the head of the Tigers' first baseman to give USD a 2-1 walk-off win. 

The victory also comes on a night where the Toreros clinched the West Coast Conference regular season title outright with Gonzaga's loss earlier in the day at Portland. 

Like last night when the Toreros celebrated its second straight WCC title, the Toreros scored first. Jayden Lobliner lined a double down the left field line, scoring Austin Smith with two outs. 

USD (24-28, 18-5 WCC) had multiple chances to score in the ensuing innings. San Diego had two in scoring position in the third, as well as bases loaded in the fourth, but could not bring a runner home before the Tigers (20-35, 8-15 WCC) could answer. 

Pacific, who entered Friday one game back of the sixth and final spot in next week's conference tournament, tied the game at 1-1 on an RBI double in the seventh.

The Toreros' pitching staff did their best to keep the Tigers at bay. Porter Rovin got the start, throwing a career-high five innings in shutout fashion, while scattering two hits and a walk. The Carlsbad native, who graduated from nearby Sage Creek High School, also struck out a career-high six batters.   

Then, Hayden Cody came into pitch. After throwing a scoreless sixth, he ran into some two-out trouble in the seventh, being charged with the Tigers' lone run on a double surrendered by Andrew Mosiello, who had entered for Cody one batter prior. 

However, Mosiello was able to work out of the jam and limit the damage to one run in the inning by inducing a groundout to Isaiah Lane. The senior right-handed pitcher came back for the eighth. He stranded a runner at third base with an inning-ending strikeout. 

Then, Smith came on for a scoreless ninth inning, setting up Howard's heroics to eventually earn the win.   

NOTABLE

• Porter Rovin reached new career-highs in innings pitched (5.0) and strikeouts (6) Friday against the Tigers. 
• Rex Watson registered a team-high two hits in a 2-for-4 performance. It marks his third consecutive multi-hit game as he is hitting .615 (8-for-13) in that span.  
• Austin Smith's first-inning single extended his hitting streak to five games, dating back to the beginning of the Santa Clara series on May 9. During that stretch, Smith is hitting .550 (11-for-20). 
• Smith also collected the win. He improved his pitching record to 4-4.  
• San Diego secures its third walk-off victory of 2025 and first since the final game of the three-game series against San Francisco (May 4).
• The win also gives the Toreros their seventh straight WCC series win. 
• With Gonzaga losing to Portland, 12-5, before first pitch occurred at Fowler Park, that meant the Toreros had clinched the WCC Regular Season Championship outright for the second consecutive year. 
• USD has recorded at least 18 wins in conference play for the second straight year and the third in the last five years. It will go after its 19th conference win Saturday and look to tie the 2021 mark when that team went 19-8 in WCC play.  

UP NEXT
The Toreros and Tigers wrap up their three-game series Saturday at Fowler Park. USD will recognize four graduating players – Smith, Mosiello, AJ Anzai and Nick Suspenzi – prior to first pitch, which is slated for 1 p.m. The game will be livestreamed on ESPN+ as it is the final regular season game for the Toreros before heading to Las Vegas next week for the conference tournament.