Baseball wraps up wild weekend

Richan dazzles on the mound while Schuyler and Bewley show poise at the plate 

Anderson Haigler | Sports Editor | The USD Vista

On a chilly night at Fowler Park, the University of San Diego’s baseball team opened their 2018 season against University of California, Berkeley (Cal) this past Thursday. A strong pitching performance by junior right-hander Paul Richan kept the Toreros close for most of the game, but control issues from relief pitchers and a lack of offense dealt USD a 6-1 loss on opening night.

Early on, the Toreros seemed to be in control. After giving up a sharp base hit to Cal’s Tyrus Greene on the first pitch of the game, Richan settled in with six consecutive strikeouts. He ultimately cruised his way through 6 2/3 innings, surrendering just one unearned run behind 12 strikeouts and no walks. 

Richan attributed his dominant start to having strong command of all of his pitches.

“I was feeling all my pitches,” Richan said. “I could throw all of them for strikes, and I was confident with them. I just really had that mindset of throwing strikes, and that was the result.”

Coach Rich Hill said that he was impressed with Richan’s Friday night start.

“That’s one of the best performances that I have ever seen in a Torero uniform,” Hill said. “It was just a matter of command, being able to throw four pitches for strikes, pounding the zone. In the Friday night atmosphere, opening day atmosphere, he just rose to the occasion and it was awesome.”

In the eighth inning the game began to slip away from the Toreros. Cal’s Greene, who went 3-3 on the night, singled once again to start the inning, resulting in left-handed pitcher Anthony Donatella exiting the game. Sophomore right-hander Louis Crow entered for Donatella, and immediately struggled with control. He proceeded to walk three batters, eventually being charged with four earned runs in the inning. By the end of the eighth inning, the Golden Bears stretched their lead to 6-0 over the Toreros. Hill spoke about his team’s command issues out of the bullpen.

“Nothing was working for them,” Hill said. “I don’t think it was the moment or the stimulus. I just think we have to go back to work with both of them and figure some things out in the bullpen. They’ll be fine.”

Offensively, the Toreros didn’t fare much better. Cal’s Jared Horn threw five shutout innings, and allowed just four hits to begin the game. Though they ultimately recorded eight hits to match Cal’s total on the night, USD left 10 runners on base, and scored just one run on Friday. 

Redshirt sophomore second baseman Paul Kunst led the way for the Toreros at the plate with two hits and a walk, but stated that Horn was a formidable opponent on the mound. 

“(Horn) was pretty good, he was a good pitcher,” Kunst said. “He threw with confidence and had a good fastball. His curveball also threw us off every once in a while.”

Hill agreed with Kunst’s assessment of Cal’s starter.

“(Horn) is a top prospect, a big league, Pac-12, Friday-night guy,” Hill said. “He’s just got late life on his fastball, and I’m sure he’s pitching in the low 90s. That curveball can break your back, as he did with Tora (Otsuka) and (Brhet) Bewley with runners in scoring position in that one inning. His changeup was more effective than we thought. I thought that was his fourth-best pitch, but he really showed that against our left-handed hitters, so you really have to give credit to him.”

The Toreros showed signs of life on offense late in the eighth inning, when a Jay Schuyler single scored the Toreros’ lone run of the game. That late-game rally would fall short, however, as USD left two runners on base to end the inning. They later went down in order in the ninth, and lost the game 6-1.

Despite a tough night at the plate, the Toreros were optimistic for the rest of the season.

“We’re ready to bounce back and get after it tomorrow,” Kunst said.

The Toreros did just that the following day. In their second and final game of the weekend against Cal, the Toreros exploded for 11 runs in their first victory of the season. The majority of their offense came in a seven-run seventh inning behind RBIs from Jay Schuyler, Shane McGuire, Jeff Houghtby, and Brhet Bewley. 

The result was an 11-8 victory that was a stark contrast from their first game of the season. Following a 7-4 loss against Cincinnati in extra innings on Sunday, the Toreros picked up the second win of the season in dramatic fashion. Behind two home runs, including one to tie the game at three in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Toreros earned their second win of the season on a walk-off single from Brhet Bewley. Bewley spoke about his role in the late game heroics. 

“We played hard all day long,” Bewley said. “Jay (Schuyler) came up huge for us with two home runs, and that just gave me an opportunity to get up there and get a good swing off, and I just tried to relax and not do too much.”  

After a busy slate of weekend games, USD goes into next week with a record of 2-2. 

The Toreros return home to Fowler Park for a game against Indiana University  Hoosiers on Friday, March 2, at 6 p.m.