Torero Athletics: Men's Tennis Rallies to Win Fourth Straight WCC Tourney Title; Roundup

The University of San Diego men’s tennis team captured its fourth consecutive West Coast Conference Tournament title by rallying for a 4-3 decision over Pepperdine April 29 at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif.

The Toreros were down 3-1, losing the doubles point when Pepperdine won matches at No. 3 and at No. 1 and then won singles matches at No. 2 and No. 4 spots. Joel Gamerov earned USD’s initial point with a win at No. 5 singles.

USD then went on a roll with Filip Vittek winning his match at No. 1 singles and then Alexandros Araouzos winning his match at No. 6 singles in three sets. That brought the match and the title down to USD’s Joshua Page versus Pepperdine’s Lautaro Pane at No. 3 singles. Page won the first set 7-6 (5-0), but Pane won the second set 6-1 to force a deciding set. Page won it, 6-3 to give USD not only the WCC title, but also to clinch an automatic berth into the team NCAA Tournament, to be held later this month.

"These boys had so much fight today it's hard to put into words," said USD Men’s Tennis Head Coach Ryan Keckley. "They had their backs against the wall and just continued to play tough, resilient tennis. We let the doubles point slip away from us, but we didn't let the negativity carry over into singles. We battled tooth and nail until we found ourselves in a position to turn the tides of the match. I am so proud of each one of these guys as they all played a vital role into today's come from behind win. Page handled the moment better than I have ever seen him before. With all eyes on him, he stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park for this team. He will remember that clinch for a long time." 

The Toreros (17-10) put themselves in a position to win the title by winning two prior tournament matches on April 27 against San Francisco, 4-0, and then a 4-2 semifinal triumph on April 28 against No. 1 seed Portland. In the latter match, USD rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Pilots. 

Women’s Tennis: Toreros go 1-1 in WCC Tournament 

Things started off well for the USD women’s tennis team at last week’s WCC Tournament Championships with a 4-1 first-round win over Loyola Marymount. 

The win earned USD a semifinal meeting with No. 1 Pepperdine on April 28. The result, however, was a 4-0 Waves victory, ending USD’s season with an 11-13 record. 

Against LMU, USD won the doubles point on wins by Nicole Anderson/Colomba DiFilippo and Sophia Chow/Maria Paula Torres. In singles play, Chow, Anderson and DiFilippo won their matches to clinch the match. 

Against Pepperdine, the lone highlight was Chow and Torres winning their doubles match, although the Waves won the doubles point. Chow and Torres were named to the All-WCC Tournament team at No. 3 doubles.

Baseball: Tough Week for Toreros 

The USD baseball team lost three of four games this past week, losing two of three in a road West Coast Conference showdown with first-place Loyola Marymount and also falling 8-7 in a nonconference game earlier in the week against UC Irvine. 

USD won a wild 11-10 game in the opener at LMU on April 28. Chris McCready’s two-run homer capped a four-run rally in the top of the ninth for USD. Riley Adams also homered in the inning and Brhet Bewley had an RBI triple. The Toreros had 19 hits in the game, led by Jeff Houghtby’s 4-for-5 and three hits by Hunter Mercado-Hood. In addition to McCready and Adams, Jay Schuyler and Bewley also homered in the game. 

But the Toreros had trouble the rest of the weekend against LMU. A seven-run third inning Saturday led LMU to a 10-3 win in Game 2 of the series. In Sunday’s finale, USD was up 3-0 on RBIs by Aidan Stinnett, Roman Garcia and Colton Waltner, but LMU chipped away to tie it and then had a three-run eighth inning en route to a 6-3 Lions win. 

The Toreros, who’ve lost five of their last six games are still 14 games above .500 with a 28-14 record and 14-7 in WCC play. USD hosts nationally ranked Long Beach State at 6 p.m. tonight at Fowler Park before playing another road WCC series, this time against Saint Mary’s in Moraga, Calif. Game times are 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. 

Men’s Rowing: Freshmen 4 win WIRA Championship Event 

The USD men’s rowing Freshman Four entry, consisting of Simon Finnie, Max O’Toole, Sam Jones and Evan Nassar and coxswain Sarah Goh, won their race against top crew teams across the West Coast in last weekend’s Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in Sacramento. 

In their preliminary heat on April 29, USD won it with a six-second gap to beat competitors from Sonoma State, Sacramento State, San Diego State, Washington State, Southern Oregon and UC Davis. That qualified them for the Grand Final on April 30 against a field consisting of Arizona State, Santa Clara, Puget Sound, UC Irvine and Washington State. USD edged Arizona State by one second to pull out the victory. 

The entire USD men’s team will return to action May 13 at the Western Sprints Regatta. 

Women’s Rowing: Weather Limits Team’s Races at Dale Cup 

The USD women’s rowing team, following weather delays and cancellations hampered racing conditions and shortened the program at the Dale England Cup in Bloomington, Indiana, had a fairly good showing.

USD’s Varsity 8+ finished in a time of 6 minutes, 43 seconds to finish ahead of No. 17 ranked Duke and four seconds behind Notre Dame. In the Second Varsity 4+, USD was third behind Duke and Notre Dame. USD finished fourth in both the Varsity 4+ and Second Varsity 8+ races. 

The Toreros now have some time to prepare for the West Coast Conference Championships, slated for May 13 at the Sacramento State Aquatics Center in Gold River, Calif. 

Women’s Track: Strong Showing for Seniors in 1,500 

Senior women’s track runners, Sarah Kapple and Andrea Hughes, finished a fraction of a second apart while running in Section 2 of their 1,500-meter heat in the Adidas/Steve Scott Invitational at UC Irvine on April 29. 

Kapple finished fifth overall in a time of 4 minutes, 35.74 seconds, just ahead of Hughes, who was sixth in 4:35.88. 

Freshman Beth Wade won her meet heat in 5:03.66. 

The women’s track team will conclude its season this Saturday at the Occidental College Invitational. 

Softball: Tough Weekend for Toreros at BYU 

The Torero softball team entered a weekend series at BYU with a chance to position themselves in contention for first place in the West Coast Conference. But the Cougars had other ideas. 

BYU managed to win all three games in a rout, winning 9-0 and 10-1 in a Friday doubleheader and then completing a sweep on Saturday in an 11-0 decision. The three games went five innings apiece. 

USD’s offense mustered 14 hits in the three games and Frankie Perales drove in the lone Torero run in the second inning of Friday’s evening game. USD senior pitcher Megan Sabbatini suffered the loss in all three games, dropping her record to 10-12 on the season. 

The Toreros will finish the WCC regular-season schedule on the road against Loyola Marymount with a single game Friday at 2 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday at noon and 2 p.m. 

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