USD baseball begins WCC play

After promising 5-1 victory on Friday night, Toreros drop Saturday and Sunday games to Pepperdine

Anderson Haigler / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

Conference play could not have started at a better time for the Toreros. Winners of five straight games preceding conference play — including two impressive victories over nationally top-25-ranked teams — University of San Diego baseball was red-hot heading into their first West Coast Conference (WCC) matchup of the year. Their success would continue in their Friday night contest against visiting Pepperdine University. Behind a solid outing on the mound from junior lefty Chris Murphy and a dash of power from first-year infielder Cody Jefferis, USD was able to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games, and earn a 5-1 victory over the Waves.

Though Murphy has posted just a 2.54 ERA in a team-high 28.1 innings pitched for the Toreros, his start last Friday did not begin smoothly. After getting a quick out on a pop fly from Pepperdine second baseman Wyatt Young, the left-hander issued a walk to shortstop Quincy McAfee — the first of four free passes he would allow in the game. A swinging strikeout later, McAfee advanced to second base on a wild pitch, setting the table for the Waves’ first baseman Billy Cook to give his team a 1-0 lead on a sharply-hit double down the third base line. After issuing another walk on a full count, Murphy would end the inning with a three-pitch strikeout, minimizing the damage from his two early bases on balls. Murphy, who has been the leader of the Toreros’ pitching staff so far this season, spoke about the early phases of his outing.

“I’d say I pitched pissed-off today, maybe a little bit out of my body, which is not what I’m comfortable with,” Murphy said. 

As the game progressed, however, Murphy appeared to find his groove. Despite struggling with command and hitting three Pepperdine batters with pitches in addition to two more walks, the junior was able to consistently work his way out of trouble over the following four innings, holding the Waves scoreless in those frames. He was able to offset his lack of fastball command with a heavy mix of offspeed pitches, an in-game adjustment that Murphy said was intentional.  

“I couldn’t throw my fastball so I started flipping everything over,” Murphy said. “I had curveballs, changeups, and sliders all working. I kinda found it in the third inning, and kept it rolling.”

While Murphy was battling his way through a tough, but successful start, the USD offense was quiet early on. They were held both hitless and scoreless through the first three innings of play, but got things going in the bottom of the fourth. Their rally began when senior infielder Ripken Reyes wore the first pitch of his at bat to lead off the inning, the ball glancing harmlessly off of his protective elbow guard. Two pitches later, sophomore first baseman Shane McGuire sent a single through the right side, advancing Reyes to second. A single up the middle from senior shortstop Jeff Houghtby in the following at bat loaded the bases, setting the stage for San Diego to do some damage. The damage would come one at bat later in the form of yet another single, this time from first-year utility player Caleb Ricketts, evening the score at one. Next up was sophomore catcher Adam Kerner, who skied a fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly that gave the Toreros their first lead of the day. The inning would end with the same score: 2-1 Toreros.  

USD would continue their scoring in the following inning. It would be Jefferis who got things started this time, slashing the first pitch he saw down the left field line for a stand-up double. McGuire would plate him one batter later on his second single of the day, extending the Toreros’ lead to 3-1. San Diego’s fifth single of the day came from Houghtby, and it scored McGuire, who had advanced to second on the throw from the previous play. 4-1 Toreros.

With Murphy sitting at close to 100 pitches after five innings of work, a pitching change wouldn’t have been a surprising move for USD baseball head coach Rich Hill. But the veteran head coach elected to stick with his lefty starter, trotting him out for the sixth inning of the game. Murphy rewarded his coach with a scoreless frame, working around a single to retire the side with two strikeouts. Hill explained his decision after the game, emphasizing a sense of trust in his starter, as well as an element of strategy. 

“I thought he showed a lot of heart,” Hill said. “We had a conversation after the fifth inning, and it was about being the ace of the team, on the Friday night or the first game of the series going deep into games. I think he was going to face three or four lefties in that sixth inning, and we needed him, and his brothers needed him. He just stepped up and found another gear.”

Murphy would exit the game after his scoreless sixth with a 4-1 lead. His final line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 6 K. 

He would be replaced by first-year right-hander Jake Miller, who threw three scoreless innings in relief, surrendering just two hits in the process. The spotless outing extended Miller’s streak of consecutive innings without surrendering a run to 20.2 innings. Even more impressive: the innings are Miller’s first in his collegiate career. Hill spoke about Miller’s outing, as well as the stellar start to the first year’s career as a Torero. 

“That’s 20.2 scoreless innings to start his career here at USD,” Hill said with a chuckle of perhaps incredulity at Miller’s astonishing streak. “To have a guy sitting there on a Friday night right after Murphy is a luxury.”

But the perhaps most memorable moment of the evening would happen later in the game, and it would be at the plate for the Toreros. Cody Jefferis battled his way through his fourth at bat of the game, sending a 1-2 pitch down the left field line for what was a foot away from being a well-struck, opposite-field double. Instead, a foul ball and strike two. On the following pitch, Jefferis showcased his versatile approach at the plate, turning on a fastball for a towering home run over the right field wall that padded the USD lead and made the score 5-1 in favor of the Toreros. An opportune time for Jefferis’ first career collegiate home run. Jefferis described his home run.

“It felt really good,” Jefferis said. “I had two strikes on me, just looking for a good pitch to hit, get something started. I saw it, and got right to it.”

Though Jefferis put a good charge into the ball, he wasn’t sure if it would be gone off the bat.

“I’ve hit a couple earlier in the year where I thought they would go out and they didn’t, so that was kinda iffy, but it felt really good,” Jefferis said.

 The round-tripper put an exclamation point on a start to his young career that has both impressed and surprised his coach and teammates. The first year, who stands at just five-foot-eight, is among the Toreros’ top three hitters thus far, sporting a .329 batting average with 19 RBI.

“He’s been (hitting to all fields) all year,” Hill said. “Just a pleasant surprise for us, really jumping up as a freshman.”

Murphy weighed in on his teammate’s stunning early performance.

“That kid is one of the biggest surprises to me, but at the same time I saw it in the fall and the winter, I saw it all coming,” Murphy said.

In the end, the Toreros were 5-1 victors, moving their overall record to 14-4 and their WCC record to 1-0. Though USD won their first WCC game, Jefferis emphasized that he and his teammates need to stay in the moment.

“As a team we’ve just gotten so much closer,” Jefferis said. “Every guy has just realized that it’s all about the team and just trying to do everything we can to get the win. We feel really good about the win tonight, we just gotta keep it up. We can’t get comfortable.”

Despite their hot start on Friday, USD lost their final two games against the Waves last weekend by scores of 8-7 and 10-5. After their first three games of WCC play, their record now sits at 14-6 overall (1-2 WCC).

The Toreros will continue their homestand and conference play with a three-game series against the University of San Francisco starting March 22 at 6 p.m.