USD baseball loses to Hawaii

A quiet night at the plate deals Toreros their third-straight loss in mid-week matchup

Anderson Haigler/Sports Editor/The USD Vista 

Coming off of a tough loss the previous night, the University of San Diego baseball team was looking to bounce back with a mid-week victory against the University of Hawaii last Wednesday.  A quiet night on offense, however, doomed the Toreros to their third straight defeat  by a score of 5-2 as a late-game rally fell short. 

The Rainbow Warriors wasted no time in getting the scoring started, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning behind a pair of singles. An inning later, the Toreros were able to even the score. After redshirt junior utility player Paul Kunst walked to lead off the inning, redshirt senior Chris McCready reached base with a single on the first pitch he saw. A double play ball from sophomore catcher Adam Kerner nearly extinguished the rally, but first-year infielder Cody Jefferis broke through with a single to right field, which plated Kunst and moved the score to 1-1. 

The score would remain knotted at one for the next couple of innings, with the Torero pitching staff doing their part to keep USD in the game. Playing in their second consecutive midweek non-conference game with an important West Coast Conference (WCC) series at Saint Mary’s looming on the horizon in the upcoming weekend, the Toreros employed a pitching-by-committee approach on the mound, something that USD baseball head coach Rich Hill attributed to ensuring that the remainder of his staff would be well-rested for the series.

“The main focus is staying fresh, and keeping the pitchers that we need to beat Saint Mary’s ready to go,” Hill said of his usage of six different pitchers in the game. 

The hurlers that Hill did call on were not necessarily USD’s strongest, as the average ERA between the six was 8.57 heading into the game. But their collective performance belied any struggles they may have had earlier this season, as they turned in eight innings of three-run ball, before being touched up for another two runs in the top of the ninth. First-year right-hander Cade Brown opened the game for the Toreros, surrendering two runs on three hits before turning things over to fellow first year Jake Reed, who threw two and a third scoreless innings. 

Reed’s successful mid-game outing was achieved with a little help from redshirt junior Nigel Ward, who took over after the righty gave up back-to-back singles with one out in the fifth. Ward successfully quelled the Rainbow Warriors’ rally, retiring third baseman Ethan Lopez on a popup in foul territory before he struck out first baseman Alex Baeza on five pitches. 

Ward would eventually run into trouble of his own, however, allowing a run on a hit batter, a wild pitch, and a single before Hill went to the bullpen yet again, this time opting for redshirt junior right-hander Nicola Mislinski. He turned in one and two thirds scoreless before giving way to yet another righty in first year Jack Dolack. Dolack threw a scoreless eighth, working around a walk to set down Hawaii without incident. In the ninth, though, Dolack was unable to keep the Rainbow Warriors in check, and was lifted from the game after allowing a single and a walk. The Toreros’ final pitcher of the evening, junior righty Nathan Walker, did what he could to keep things close, but surrendered Hawaii’s final run of the game on a wild pitch. 

Though he mentioned that his bullpen was already taxed from the Toreros’ 4-2 loss to crosstown rival San Diego State University the night before, Hill stated that he was impressed with the efforts that his pitching staff set forth on Wednesday.

“I’m very proud of the pitching staff tonight,” Hill said. “That last inning got away from us a little bit, but we just kinda hung in there and made big pitches. Nicola Mislinski, I thought really stood out. And Jake Reed, I think, was the big story of the night. Those two guys stood out from the rest.”

As successful as Hill’s pitchers may have been that night, Hawaii’s were better. Using a similar strategy to that of the Toreros, the Rainbow Warriors sent nine different pitchers to the mound on Wednesday, and did not allow USD to score over the middle seven innings of the game, holding them to one run over the game’s first eight frames. Hill described his team’s offensive performance after the game.

“They rolled out a different pitcher every inning, and it was tough for us to get the leadoff guy on all night,” Hill said. 

That’s not to say the Toreros’ didn’t have their chances, however. USD outhit Hawaii 11 to nine, and left nine runners on base. They just couldn’t get the right hit at the right time.

“It was singles, singles, singles,” Hill said. “It’s just hard to do that. They made pitches with guys on base. We just gotta do a better job.”

Heading into the ninth inning, the Toreros trailed by a score of 5-1. Bucking the aforementioned night-long trend of a lack of extra-base hits for USD in the game, Kerner spun on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth, sending a fastball over the left field wall for a solo home run that marked the first Torero run since the second inning. Despite Kerner’s infusion of power into the Torero ninth that made the score 5-2 in favor of the Rainbow Warriors, his teammates were unable to capitalize on the momentum. Though senior outfielder Connor Doyle notched a single with two outs, they ended the game without any further scoring, dropping a 5-2 decision to Hawaii. 

After the game, Kerner weighed in on his team’s lack of offense.

“I mean, we put up 11 hits, so it obviously wasn’t bad, we’re just not stringing them together right now — which is something that just comes with certain games,” Kerner said. “Sometimes you just can’t put them together.”

After dropping two of three on the road to Saint Mary’s in the ensuing WCC series over the weekend, the Toreros’ overall record stands at 26-19, and 10-11 in conference. Kerner described his and his teammates’ mindset as their season winds its way a close.

“(There’s) a sense of urgency,” Kerner said. “(But) it’s not close to being over yet.”

The Toreros return home on Tuesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. to take on UC Irvine. Admission is free for all USD students.