Torero Athletics: WCC Basketball Tournament Begins; Baseball wins Gwynn Classic; Sports Roundup

Torero Athletics: WCC Basketball Tournament Begins; Baseball wins Gwynn Classic; Sports Roundup

WCC Hoops: USD's Brett Bailey defendingUSD women's basketball player Cori Woodward brings the ball up the court during a recent WCC game. The Torero basketball teams play in the WCC Tournament this week in Las Vegas.

The West Coast Conference basketball season is preparing for its home-stretch run. For the University of San Diego men and women's basketball teams this season, it means playing a game on the first day of their respective WCC Tournaments at the Orleans Hotel Arena in Las Vegas, March 2 for the women and March 3 for the men.

Based on the final regular-season standings, both USD teams enter the WCC Tournament as the seventh seed and both will meet 10th-seeded Portland in their opening games. The women's game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday. The men’s game is 8 p.m. Friday.

USD and Portland don't have to think back too far to their last meeting. The teams met in the regular-season finale Feb. 25. The USD teams swept the Pilots with the Torero men (13-17, 6-12 WCC) earning an 85-82 win at Jenny Craig Pavilion and the Torero women (13-15, 7-11) claiming a 72-54 road victory. In their first meetings of the season, the USD teams also swept the Pilots with the men winning at Portland and women triumphing at home. 

Winners of the USD-Portland games advance to play the No. 2 tournament seed on Friday (women's game) at 2 p.m. and Saturday (men) at 9 p.m. The second seeds, both of whom earned a first-round bye, are BYU on the women's side and Saint Mary's on the men's side.

The tournament takes place March 2-7 for the women — no games on March 4 and 5 — and March 3-7 for the men. There are no men's games on March 5. Semifinals are March 6 and the title games are March 7.

Complete coverage is available at WCC Tournament Central and Torero happenings on the USD men's basketball and women's basketball websites.

Baseball: USD wins Gwynn Classic, Prepares for Dodgertown Classic 

Fowler Park was a great place to be for Torero baseball fans on Feb. 24-25 as the baseball team defeated Notre Dame, 6-2, on Feb. 24, then beat both UC Irvine, 14-6, and Oregon, 7-2, to win Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic, an event that featured games at both USD and San Diego State.

Big performances were turned in by Toreros catcher Riley Adams, who was named the tournament MVP, first baseman Roman Garcia hit two home runs against UCI and outfielder Hunter Mercado-Hood and Garcia were named to the All-Tournament Team. Troy Conyers' pitching performances in relief against Notre Dame and Oregon earned him West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week honors. Starter Nick Sprengel picked up his second win of the season with a five-inning, six-strikeout performance against Notre Dame.

The Toreros, which had its scheduled Feb. 27 single game at home against Oregon rained out, now prepares for a big weekend of action in Los Angeles. USD will play in the Dodgertown Classic, starting with a 6 p.m. game Friday against USC at Dedeaux Field. Saturday at 2 p.m. is a game against UCLA at its Jackie Robinson Stadium and then Sunday at 11 a.m., the Toreros will oppose Michigan at Dodger Stadium. Afterwards, USC faces UCLA in a 3 p.m. game.

Get tickets and information for the Dodgertown Classic games at Dodger Stadium here

Softball: Home-Opening Weekend Tournament for USD

After opening the season with tournaments in Tempe, Arizona and then in Cathedral City, Calif., and this past weekend off, the USD softball team will finally play in its own USD Softball Complex this Friday through Sunday in the San Diego Classic.

The tournament games Friday are at 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and then USD's first game at 6 p.m. against Detroit Mercy. Saturday's game time schedule is the same, but USD plays back-to-back games at 3:30 p.m. against Boston University and 6 p.m. against UC Davis. Sunday's games start at 9 a.m. USD plays Oregon State at 11:30 a.m. and San Jose State at 2 p.m.

Men's Tennis: Doubleheader Sweep Includes WCC Win

The USD men's tennis team had a strong day on Feb. 25, winning a nonconference match against UC Irvine, 6-1, and then shutting out WCC foe Saint Mary's 4-0 at home.

Against UCI, USD clinched the doubles point when the No. 2 team of Joshua Page and Alexandros Araouzos earned a 6-3 win. From there, USD dominated singles with wins for Page, Araouzos, Joel Gamerov, Gui Osorio and Guus Koevermans to secure the overall victory.

Against Saint Mary's, the Page and Araouzos again shined as a doubles team, winning at No. 3 spot to clinch the doubles point for USD. Singles wins by Filip Vittek, Osorio and Gamerov gave USD a quick closeout of the match.

The Toreros host Cal at noon on Thursday at USD's Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center and will also play in the PAC Coast doubles event in La Jolla this weekend.

Women's Tennis: Loses to ASU, Prepares for SDSU

The USD women's tennis team lost a home match against No. 30-ranked Arizona State, 4-0, on Feb. 26 at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center. It was the third consecutive Pac-12 Conference opponent for USD, whose match record fell to 2-5.

The Toreros will play two more home matches at the Hogan Tennis Center this week, a 1:30 p.m. match against San Diego State on Wednesday and then an 11 a.m. match Saturday against Brown University.

Golf: 12th Place at The Prestige Tournament

The USD men's golf team finished 12th place in The Prestige tournament, held at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., Feb. 20-22. The Toreros had a team score of 902. LSU edged runner-up Pepperdine to win the tournament with an even-par score of 852.

Top golfers for USD were Dalton Hankamer, who tied for 26th (73-71-74) with a score of 218 and Daniel Lopez, tied for 48th (74-75-76) with a 225 total.

The Toreros return to action this Saturday and Sunday in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate at the Desert Mountain Country Club's Outlaw course in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Men's Rowing: UCSD edges USD in City Championships

The Toreros' varsity eight and junior varsity eights and freshman four rowers competed against UC San Diego in the annual City Championships for men's rowing at Mission Bay on Feb. 25.

Competing in three timed races of six, four and three minutes, USD's varsity eight and JV8 both lost by close margins while USD's freshman four dominated their races, winning each by a boat length.

USD next competes March 12 in the Newport Regatta and then March 17-18 it will be back to Mission Bay to compete against Gonzaga and Santa Clara.

For all USD Athletics news, scores and information, visit the website and follow on social media: FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

Thumbnail photo on www.sandiego.edu/news website was taken by Jake Roth/USA Today Sports