Torero Athletics: Softball Qualifies for NISC Postseason Play; Roundup

The University of San Diego softball team, by virtue of finishing third place in the West Coast Conference standings, received an at-large berth into the National Invitational Softball Championship tournament, presented by Triple Crown Sports.

The Toreros, who took two of three games on the road against Loyola Marymount this past week to finish 8-7 in WCC regular-season play and are 22-22 overall, play a first-round game today at noon in Ogden, Utah against Utah State. 

This is the first time USD softball has qualified for a postseason tournament. In the NISC, a double-elimination tournament format, a win over Utah State would move USD into a second-round game Wednesday at noon against the winner between Boise State and regional host Weber State. The winner of Wednesday's game would then play in the regional championship on Thursday. A loss on Tuesday, meanwhile, would force USD to battle through the consolation bracket in hopes of reaching the regional final. 

The Toreros are pleased to extend their season and it came in large part to winning their weekend WCC series at LMU. The Toreros lost a 4-3, eight-inning decision on May 12, but came back to earn a doubleheader sweep — 4-1 and 1-0, respectively — over the Lions on May 13. 

Sophomore Taylor Spence was named WCC Player of the Week, batting 5 for 10 with three runs to finish the regular season with a WCC-leading .415 batting average and is second in hits (59). Other Torero standouts include Olivia Sandusky (seven home runs, 34 RBI, .304 batting average), pitcher Megan Sabbatini (12 wins, nine complete games, 115 strikeouts in 148 innings pitched) and Lauren Kane and Kailey Hill, each with 25 RBI and four homers. 

Baseball: Toreros Tune-Up for Important Week: At SDSU, Home to Pepperdine 

The USD baseball team took a break from West Coast Conference action this past week and the results were a three-game win streak, including a nonconference weekend series win — taking two of three against Sacramento State — and a 14-inning triumph over UC Irvine back on May 9. 

Tonight, USD plays its final regular-season nonconference game on the road at 6 p.m. against cross-town rival San Diego State. From there, the Toreros will host an all-important WCC series against Pepperdine May 19-21 at Fowler Park with games at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. 

But maybe the brief respite from WCC action is what the Toreros needed. USD scored four runs in the top of the 14th inning to finally knock off UCI in a five-hour game. Jeff Houghtby was 4 for 6 with two RBI and a run scored and Noah Prewett was 3-for-3 with two RBI. Five pitchers combined to limit UCI to six hits and struck out 18 batters. 

Then the Toreros welcomed Sacramento State to Fowler Park. 

On May 12, starting pitcher Nick Sprengel improved to 9-1, going six innings, allowing six hits, two runs and striking out eight in a 6-3 victory. Two home runs by Jay Schuyler and another by Riley Adams led USD's offense. 

On May 13, the Toreros clinched the series with a 5-3 triumph. The Hornets led 3-1, but USD rallied to tie it with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and then took the lead for good on an RBI double by Schuyler and he later scored on a sacrifice fly by Roman Garcia. Perfect relief pitching from Jonathan Teaney and Troy Conyers sewed up the win. 

On May 14, the Hornets avoided the sweep by rallying from a three-run deficit to win 9-8. USD had a six-run sixth inning to take a 7-4 lead. Adams and Garcia each hit home runs and Houghtby and Adams both had three RBI. 

All that's left now is a battle for a top four spot in the WCC Tournament, which takes place May 25-27 in Stockton, Calif. Heading into this weekend, USD (15-9 WCC) is tied for fourth place with Saint Mary's. BYU is first at 20-4, and LMU and Gonzaga are tied at 17-7. Four of these five teams will advance. USD plays Pepperdine, Saint Mary's hosts Santa Clara, BYU is at Gonzaga and LMU is at Portland. USD needs to finish one game better than Saint Mary's to earn a spot in the WCC Tournament. Saint Mary's won two of three against USD earlier this season, so if the teams have identical conference records, Saint Mary's gets the spot.  

Men's Tennis: Wisconsin Tops USD in NCAA Tournament 

The 47th-ranked USD men's tennis team's season concluded in a 4-1 first-round match against No. 30 ranked Wisconsin on May 12 at USC's Marks Tennis Stadium in Los Angeles. 

Making their seventh consecutive appearance in the NCAA team tournament, the Toreros knew the challenge that Wisconsin posed. The Badgers had defeated USD 5-2 earlier this season in a USD home match. 

This time, despite battling well in doubles -- the No. 1 team of Filip Vittek and Joshua Page did win their match, 6-3 -- Wisconsin secured the early point by winning at No. 2 and 3 by identical scores of 6-2. 

In singles play, Wisconsin built a 3-0 lead with wins at No. 1 and No. 4, Vittek and Page, respectively, before Gui Osorio won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2 singles to give USD its lone point. Wisconsin won at No. 6 singles to close out the match. 

As a result, USD finished its season with a 17-11 overall record and 6-3 mark in West Coast Conference play. The Toreros did earn the WCC's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament as a result of winning their fourth straight WCC Tournament title in late April. 

While the team's run has ended, one Torero player, Vittek, will continue playing this season. Vittek will compete in the NCAA Singles Championship in Athens, Ga., starting May 24. 

Women's Rowing: Toreros Finish 2nd in WCC Championship Races 

The USD women's rowing team had tied Gonzaga for first place the last two years in the West Coast Conference Championship races. Both times, Gonzaga won a tiebreaker, winning the varsity eight race, to earn the automatic NCAA postseason berth. USD, meanwhile, would always win one or two races, at least. 

On May 13, USD tried again to unseat Gonzaga in the WCC finals at Lake Natoma, Calif., and for the first time in more than six years, Gonzaga swept the varsity four, second varsity eight and varsity eight races to claim its 16th WCC championship since 1997 and third straight. USD last won the WCC in 2014. 

USD finished second in all three races. 

In the four race, Gonzaga finished in a time of 7 minutes, 10.15 seconds. USD's Quinn Taylor (Coxswain), Kadee Sylla, Kira McPolin, Nikki Moore and Kathryn Brady, finished in 7:20.39. 

In the second varsity eight, Gonzaga won in 6:36.32, narrowing beating USD, which finished in 6:38.76. USD's team was comprised of Alena Kaye (coxswain), Chloe Williams, Merixtell Fernandez-Servitje, Lauren Knibbe, Maya Krah, Carla Kinnunen, Clare Adams and Kelly Hulsing. 

In the varsity eight, Gonzaga won in 6:25.76, followed by USD's 6:30.81. The Toreros' squad was Karli Wittenberg (coxswain), Jane Bird, Meredith Hoggatt, Susie Taylor, Uche Anyanwu, Megan Goodman, Lizzie Bader, Morgan Lester and Vada Thomas. 

Gonzaga scored 42 points in the team standings, followed by USD with 36, LMU had 30 and Portland was fourth with 20. 

Uche Anyanwu was named WCC Rower of the Year among the sport's major individual awards announced at the event. 

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