Weekly Recap

Dominant performances by USD tennis and baseball teams at home

JAREK MORGAN / ASST. SPORTS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

University of San Diego Athletics continued to shine over the weekend, as men’s and women’s tennis dominated on the courts, and baseball registered their first sweep of West Coast Conference (WCC) play. The golf team traveled to the Stanford Cardinal, and softball’s season pressed on. Read on to find out how the USD athletes achieved their success. 

Softball 

The University of San Diego softball team (14-24) traveled to Las Vegas, NV, over the weekend and were unable to get into the win column in a three game series against University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Losing all three games puts the Toreros on a seven-game losing streak. 

In the first game, the Toreos lost the contest 4-7 after repeatedly trying to start a comeback rally, but the team ultimately couldn’t find their momentum in the back and forth battle. 

Junior pitcher Madison Earnshaw started the series on the mound and contributed four innings to the team’s performance. Giving up nine hits and seven runs, Earnshaw struck out just one batter after facing 26 in the contest. 

Junior outfielder Alexia Torculas had the highlight of the game when she hit a two-run homerun in the top of the fifth inning that gave hope to the Toreros of a potential comeback. However, UNLV sealed the win when they also hit a homerun in the bottom of the same inning, which was the final score the Rebels needed for the victory. 

In the second game, San Diego was only able to convert one run in a 1-7 loss to the Rebels. 

UNLV had the bats going early against first-year pitcher Courtney Rose. Hitting back-to-back home runs that broke the game open, Rebels sophomore Jasmine Martin broke an LED panel on the scoreboard after hammering a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second in her first at-bat. Senior Samantha Diaz followed her teammate with a solo home run shot of her own. 

During the second matchup, San Diego committed seven total errors, something that proved too much to overcome for the Toreros. 

In the final game of the series, UNLV captured the sweep of San Diego with a 6-3 victory at Eller Media Stadium. 

The Toreros were aggressive at the plate with seven hits and two home runs, but it was not enough to close the gap.

First-year Ashley Daughtery took the mound and allowed just one hit, but gave up five errors and walked another eight batters. USD came alive with the bats, but inconsistency on the field forced San Diego to be playing from behind for much of the game. 

Looking forward, the Toreros will take time off to regroup and refocus and will be back on the field in another three game series on April 9 against the Saint Mary’s College Gaels at home. 

Baseball 

USD Baseball  (15-7) looked incredibly poised in their first month of the season and continued to improve on their current six-game winning streak over the weekend. 

The Toreos swept the Saint Mary’s Gaels in emphatic fashion at Fowler Park. 

In the first game, senior Garrett Rennie turned in a career performance on the mound and graduate student RJ Teijeiro played the hero with a walk-off home run, leading San Diego to a 4-2 extra-innings thriller win over the Gaels.  The win was the fourth straight victory for the Toreros, and their second extra-innings decision in as many games. 

After allowing an early run on an RBI single, Rennie settled in for the most dominant start of his college career to date, tossing a career high 7.1 innings while striking out a career high eight, walking two, and allowing just one run. 

Saint Mary’s got a game-tying base hit in the top of the ninth on Friday night, but Teijeiro’s walk-off home run proved that San Diego could handle adversity in critical moments. 

In game two of three, USD relied on the dominant performances of its pitching staff giving up just one run to complete the 4-1 victory. 

Sophomore Brycen Mautz threw 6.2 frames of one-run ball on Saturday, a third of an inning shy of his career-long on the mound. This is the fourth time in his last five starts that Mautz has gone at least six innings while surrendering one run or less. Mautz’s final stat line on Saturday night was 6.2 innings pitched, four hits, one run, three base on balls (walk), and seven K’s (strikeouts) on 89 pitches. 

Mautz handed the ball to redshirt sophomore Conner Thurman in the top of the seventh with runners on second and third and only one out. 

Thurman promptly stranded Mautz’s final baserunners of the evening enroute to a dominant night out of the bullpen, throwing 2.1 scoreless, one-hit innings while walking none and striking out four to secure his team’s win.

In the final matchup of the weekend, senior Cody Jefferis and sophomores Chase Meidroth and Jack Costello turned in big afternoons at the plate. Redshirt sophomore James Sashin shined out of the bullpen as the Toreros earned their  first sweep of the season on March 27, beating the Gaels by an 11-6 margin with a late-game comeback at Fowler Park.

Meidroth again led the way for the Toreros at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two runs batted in, and his team-best 18 and 19th walks of the season. 

USD Baseball will have their hands full when they travel to San Francisco to face off with conference rival University of San Francisco Dons in a three game series on April 1 through 3.

Women’s Tennis 

The no. 36 ranked University of San Diego Women’s Tennis team improved to 3-0 in WCC play on March 25, sweeping the Gonzaga Bulldogs 4-0. 

USD improves to 12-3 on the season, including an impressive seven straight wins. 

Sophomore Elizabeth Goldsmith and first-year Claudia De Las Heras teamed up to open the matchup by defeating Gonzaga’s junior Cate Broerman and sophomore Kianna Oda 6-4 in the no. 1 doubles spot. In the most competitive match in the doubles competition, San Diego clinched the doubles point as juniors Solymar Colling and  Victoria Kalaitzis won their court two matchup against Gonzaga’s grad student Frederikke Svarre and junior Jenna Sloan, 7-6. 

In the singles competition, the Toreros increased their lead when De Las Heras defeated Aitken 6-2, 6-3, in the no. 5 spot. On court six, Kalaitzis earned another point for San Diego when she claimed the 6-0, 6-4 victory of the Bulldog’s first year Caroline Wernli. The match was clinched for San Diego after McBride defeated Oda 6-2, 6-3 on court four. 

The Toreros also beat the University of Portland, 4-2, during the team’s two game road spin. Both weekend wins improve USD’s record to 12-3 for the season and 3-0 in conference play.

USD Women’s Tennis will head to Brigham Young University on Saturday, April 2. 

Golf 

The USD Golf team competed at Stanford University in the Goodwin tournament March 24 through 26. The Toreros finished tied for 12th in the 28-team tournament, sharing the place with the University of San Francisco. 

The University of Washington won the tournament, while hosts Stanford finished third overall. 

Redshirt junior Harrison Kingsley finished highest for the Toreros for the second weekend in a row, turning in a 67, 74, 64 performance to finish tied for 15th at five under par. 

Senior Charlie Reiter finished tied for 25th at three under par, and redshirt senior Donald Kay rounded out the Toreros top-50 performance, finishing tied for 50th. 

Next up for the Toreros is the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, hosted by the University of Wyoming at the Whirlwind Golf Course in Chandler, AZ on April 4 and 5. 

Men’s Tennis

No. 18 ranked USD Men’s Tennis extended their winning streak to eight matches over the weekend, defeating the University of Portland 4-0 at home on Friday, March 25. 

After the Toreros took the doubles point, fifth-years August Holmgren and Gui Osorio and redshirt sophomore Sacchitt Sharma beat their Pilot opponents to secure the victory. 

USD improves to 3-0 in WCC play, and looks to continue their streak against Brigham Young University on April 2 at home.