SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Toreros (10-12, 0-0 WCC) showed they were not going to go down without a fight on Saturday afternoon at the Reggie Smith Softball Complex, but ultimately fell just short in an 11-10 loss to Princeton (6-5, 0-0 Ivy) in its third game of the USD/SDSU Co-Host Tournament.

Princeton jumped on the Toreros early, erupting for two runs in the first and three more in the second to build a 5-0 lead through just two innings. San Diego refused to fold, however, answering immediately with four runs of their own in the bottom of the second to trim the deficit to one. The Tigers continued to apply pressure, adding runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to push their lead to 11-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh — and that's when the Toreros showed exactly what they're made of.

Needing seven runs to tie with three outs standing between them and a loss, San Diego erupted for six runs in the bottom of the seventh in a rally that had the Reggie Smith Softball Complex buzzing. Singles from Michelle Delgado, Taylor Johnson, and Mallory Axline loaded the bases before Kaylee Oh singled through the left side to score Delgado. With two outs, Abrielle Diaz kept the comeback alive with a single to left center that cleared the bases, scoring three, and Janae Combs followed with a pinch-hit RBI double to make it 11-9. Carly Ruiz singled and Kaitlyn Wynia followed with an RBI single to pull San Diego within one —but the Toreros could not find the final run, falling 11-10.

On the offensive side, Michelle Delgado led the way going a team-best 4-for-5 with an RBI, while Wynia finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs, Carly Ruiz went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Janae Combs added two doubles. The Toreros finished with a season-high 18 hits on the day — shattering their previous single-game best of 11 set against Kansas City on February 28 — a remarkable offensive output that made the final result all the more difficult to swallow.

On the mound, Analesse Garcia started but was lifted after 0.2 innings, with Alex Riggs, Kelsey Tadlock, and Kaitlyn Bartlow all seeing action in relief. 

The Toreros will be back in action on Monday afternoon to conclude play in the USD/SDSU Co-Host tournament with a rematch against the Tigers at 4:00 PM at the Reggie Smith Softball Complex.