SAN DIEGO — San Diego baseball pounded out 11 hits and the Toreros pitching staff nearly replicated its performance from Thursday to defeat Santa Clara 6-1 Friday and take the series at Fowler Park. 

"Complete baseball again tonight," head coach Brock Ungricht said after the game.

Like Thursday, the Toreros (11-17, 4-4 WCC) limited the Broncos (13-16, 3-5 WCC) to one run on three hits as Diego Gutierrez and Drake Frize combined to record seven strikeouts in the win. Gutierrez, who improved his record to 4-2, went the first six, allowing just one run and scattering five walks through six innings. 

The CSUN transfer struck out five while limiting the Broncos to just two hits. 

"Our pitching just stayed on the attack," Ungricht said. "I can't say enough about what Diego did, really set the tone and had a really good tempo." 

Then Frize took over for the final three innings, striking out two while allowing just one hit and a walk without surrendering a run. 

"I've been through a lot against these guys in my time here, and just the adversity I've kind of felt throughout the season," said Frize, who gave up a walk-off home run and also tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow two years ago against Santa Clara. "I felt good, felt loose, finally felt free. I didn't really care how it went, just trying to go in there and fill the zone and help my team win."

At the plate, USD struck first by leaving the yard.

Thursday night, it was CJ Moran with a two-run shot in the third. And on Friday, it was a solo homer in the fourth from Andrew Guana, who launched his second longball in as many nights after also doing so in the eighth inning Thursday. 

That fourth inning was part of a two-run frame. Although Cade Martinez's eight game-hitting streak came to an end in the series opener, he singled up the middle, scoring Connor Meidroth with two outs to take a 2-0 lead to cap off a crooked number in that inning 

Despite allowing a run in the sixth, San Diego got that run back in the seventh as Gauna hit an RBI double that one-hopped the wall in left center, scoring Moran. Then Jayden Lobliner blooped a single into center, allowing Gauna to trot home and take a 4-1 lead. 

Gauna said that he and his fellow hitters feed off the energy the San Diego pitchers provide.

"We thrive off vibes," Gauna said. "The energy that we're able to create to help us get that momentum to go produce runs is very huge, and the discipline that it takes to stick to an approach." 
 
Then, the Toreros played San Diego Baseball to extend its lead in the eighth. After Diego Gonzalez went the other way to double down the left field line, Martinez laid down a bunt. Santa Clara tried to get Gonzalez out at third base but the ball went down the line to score and Martinez advanced to third base.

That was followed by another bunt, this time from Aden Howard, who brought Martinez home to take the five-run lead and build some cushion for Frize to finish the game and complete the three-inning save, his first in nearly two years.  

"It gets some energy going. Guys feed off that," Ungricht said of his team playing small ball. "It's not trying to do too much and giving ourselves up. It puts pressure on the opposition." 

Outside of allowing the run in the sixth, Gutierrez and Frize were able to work their way around some traffic on the bases. Gutierrez left the bases loaded in the third by getting a groundout to Gonzalez, who played his fifth straight game at second base. 

Frize allowed a leadoff hit in the seventh before leaving that runner stranded at third base by producing a groundout to Martinez, who started at shortstop for the seventh straight game. 

NOTABLE 

• San Diego has now recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since winning five straight from February 14-22.
• Lobliner, who was named to the 2026 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Midseason Watchlist on Wednesday, gunned down his seventh runner this season in the top of the fourth. 
• Gauna launched his fourth home run of 2026 and his second in as many nights to left field. 
• He also recorded his third multi-hit performance in the last five games and is hitting .411 (21-for-51) in his last 14 games, dating back to the series finale at UC Berkeley (March 8). 
• Meidroth registered his third straight multi-hit game and is hitting .636 (7-for-11) during that span. 
• With a base hit in the seventh, Moran extended his hitting streak to a team-best nine games. 
• Frize registered his first save of the season and first in nearly two years (April 16, 2024 at USC).
• Gonzalez, who moved up from ninth to sixth in the lineup Friday, logged his second straight multi-hit game and is hitting .500 (5-for-10) over the last three games with four runs scored, a home run, a double, an RBI and a sacrifice bunt. 
• Phoenix Brant, who got his second collegiate start as the designated hitter, went 1-for-3 with a walk. 

UP NEXT 
San Diego will wrap up its three-game series with Santa Clara on Saturday at Fowler Park. The series finale between the Toreros and the Broncos is slated for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Julian Del Gaudio (Play-by-Play) and Mike Gosling (Analyst) on the call. Live statistics will also be available via StatBroadcast. 

The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free San Diego Baseball foam finger.