Softball

This past weekend, USD Softball hosted the San Diego Classic, an event that included games against ranked opponents Long Beach State and UCLA along with showdowns against Colorado State, Oregon State and Cal State Northridge. The Toreros started off the event with a 2-0 loss to #22 Long Beach State. The Toreros offense struggled against the 49ers strong pitching and were held to just one hit on Thursday.

USD responded on Friday however with a 7-2 victory over the Colorado State Rams. Delaney Heller threw her first complete game of the season and the Toreros scored in four of six innings to get the win. Heller’s efforts earned her WCC pitcher of the week honors. On Saturday USD once again found themselves on the losing end against a ranked team as they fell 8-3 vs #3 UCLA. The Toreros trailed early and were unable to get hits when it mattered most, going 4-15 with runners in scoring position.

USD ended the San Diego Classic with a double header split on Sunday falling 5-1 to Oregon State but beating Cal State Northridge 3-2 in extra innings. Versus the Beavers, the Toreros once again had trouble delivering with runners in runners in scoring position, going just 1-12 in those spots. USD was able to finish off the weekend with an exciting 3-2 over the Matadors. Pinch hitting in the bottom of the 9th, Emili Olague delivered a walk off single to bring the Toreros to 11-11 on the season. The team will now head to Tucson, Arizona for the Wildcat Invitational.

Baseball

USD baseball hosted #17 Indiana in a four game series this weekend and were defeated in three of the four games. In the first game the Toreros were done in by a five run 5th inning from the Hoosiers who went on to win the game 10-4. In the second game of the series, the Toreros bounced back putting up 15 hits and getting a strong start from Chris Murphy who threw 6 innings and only gave up two runs. Indiana had a chance to tie the game but had the tying runner throw out at the plate as the Toreros held on for a 6-5 victory.

In the second game of the Saturday double-header, the Toreros found themselves on the other side of 6-5 scoreline as Indiana scored two runs in the 7th and two in the 9th to come from behind and beat USD. In the final game of the series, the Toreros fell 8-4 in a game which saw Indiana junior Matt Lloyd hit a home run that was measured at 452 feet. The Toreros now sit at 8-5 and will now head to Houston for a three game series with the Cougars.

Women's Basketball

USD Women’s basketball defeated BYU 61-56 in the quarterfinals of the WCC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas on Thursday night. The Toreros were led by a big night from Caroline Buhr who scored 15 points and Maya Hood hit a game sealing shot with 24 seconds to go to put the game out of reach. Hood and Buhr were the only two Toreros in double figures. USD led for most of the game and beat BYU three times in the same season for the first time in school history.

The Toreros dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Cougars 37 to 19 and had 22 second chance points. The Toreros took a 26-25 lead into halftime and improved their record to 16-0 when leading at half time. The Toreros will now face Pacific on Monday for a chance to play for a spot in the WCC Conference Tournament Championship.

Update: USD defeated Pacific 66-56 to advance the the WCC Tournament Championship against BYU. A win will put the Toreros in the NCAA tournament.  

Men’s Basketball

USD Men’s basketball was defeated by BYU 85-79 in the quarterfinals of the WCC Men’s Basketball Tournament (also in Vegas). The Toreros rallied from a 17 point second half deficit but ultimately bowed out vs the #3 seeded Cougars. The Toreros got off to a hot start, taking a 18-10 lead by the 13 minute mark but BYU responded to take a 19-18 lead and went into halftime with a 39-35 lead. The Cougars came out on fire and extended their lead to as much as 60-43 before the Toreros responded and rallied.

Trailing 71-59, with 6:50 to go, the Toreros went on a 12-0 run to tie the game but USD ultimately ran out of gas and the end were defeated. Isaiah Pineiro led the Toreros with 21 points and Olin Carter III scored 20. Cameron Neubauer (13 points) and Isaiah Wright (12) were the other Toreros to score in double figures. USD is now 18-13 and will wait and see if they get invitation to a postseason tournament.