SAN DIEGO — The Bull Pit was packed, the crowd was into it from the first pitch, and when CJ Moran's walk-off single found left field in the 10th inning, Fowler Park and Cunningham Field erupted. With 1,207 fans on hand — including a student section that was loud all night — San Diego baseball walked off with a 6-5 victory over Michigan to improve to 7-2 on the season.

USD starter Diego Gutierrez went five innings and struck out eight batters, but ran into trouble in the third and fourth. A Drew Culbertson solo home run in the third gave Michigan an early lead, and the Wolverines blew things open in the fourth — a Brayden Jefferis triple to right center plated a pair, and a Greg Pace Jr. sacrifice fly made it 5-0. The Wolverines seemed in control heading into the bottom of the fourth.

That's when the Toreros and their roaring student section found their footing. With the bases loaded and two outs, Gage Mestas slapped a single to shallow center to plate two runs, pulling USD to within 5-2. Cade Martinez followed with an RBI single down the right field line to score Jayton Greer and make it 5-3, and a wild pitch brought home Mestas to pull the Toreros within one at 5-4. Jayton Greer then delivered an RBI single up the middle in the fifth to score Jayden Lobliner and knot the game at 5-5.

USD's bullpen took it from there and refused to flinch. Nate Deschryver was crisp in the sixth and seventh, allowing just one hit and no runs across two innings while striking out two. Logan Piper bridged the eighth and part of the ninth, yielding no runs in 1.2 innings. Hayden Cody closed things out in style, navigating the final outs of the ninth and a tense 10th inning — ultimately earning the win with 1.1 innings of work.

With the game still knotted at five heading into the bottom of the 10th, the Toreros found the late magic they needed. Cade Martinez drew a leadoff walk and Aden Howard promptly doubled to right field to put runners on second and third. After a Michigan mound visit, CJ Moran stepped up and laced a walk-off single to left field, scoring Martinez with the winning run and sending the crowd into a frenzy to cap one of the most electric nights of the young Torero season.

NOTABLE

• Jayton Greer reached base in all four of his plate appearances — two hits, a walk, and a hit by pitch — including an RBI single in the fifth that scored Jayden Lobliner to tie the game at 5-5.

UP NEXT
USD and Michigan will return to Fowler Park and Cunningham Field for game two of the series on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.