Torero Athletics: Baseball's Bats Wake Up; Scholl Gets Acquainted on Campus; Spring Roundup

A 2-1 home loss in 11 innings on April 3 against UC Irvine. A 4-3 setback in last Friday's opener of a three-game West Coast Conference home series against Loyola Marymount. Two narrow losses that can frustrate a team.

What's the remedy, you say? It was a wake-up call of sorts, at least offensively. On Saturday and Sunday, the Torero baseball team’s bats certainly woke up. USD's offense came through in big ways with an 11-4 win against LMU Saturday, followed by an 18-6 triumph in Sunday's series finale at Fowler Park.

Saturday's win came on a season-high 18 hits for USD. Shane McGuire had four hits, Jay Schuyler and Tora Otsuka each had three, Connor Doyle and Kevin Collard each had two and everyone in the lineup had at least one hit. Six doubles were hit — two each by McGuire and Schuyler.

Left-handed starting pitcher Chris Murphy went five innings giving up four runs and striking out eight. Gabriel Ponce went the remaining four innings, striking out three and allowing three hits.

On Sunday, the Toreros had 14 hits, led by Jeff Houghtby who went 2 for 5 with a grand slam and drove in six runs. Collard went 3-for-6 and drove in five. Doyle was 1 for 2 with four RBI and three runs scored. USD had a five-run third inning and added a whopping nine in the fifth inning.

Pitching for the Toreros Sunday was starter Nick Sprengel, who went 4.2 innings, giving up six hits, five runs and striking out three. Travis Kuhn came on in relief and went the last 4.1 innings. 

Winning the last two games against LMU to win the series was big for USD as games and wins become ultra-important this time of year. USD improved to 15-17 overall and 6-6 in the WCC. On Monday, Collard was named the WCC Rawlings Baseball Player of the Week.

Next Games: USD Baseball at UC Riverside, Tuesday, 6 p.m.; USD hosts Saint Mary's, Friday-Saturday-Sunday, Fowler Park, 6 p.m., 5 p.m., 1 p.m.; USD hosts Cal State Fullerton, April 17, Fowler Park 6 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

The hiring of Men’s Basketball Head Coach Sam Scholl, promoting him from assistant coach to acting head coach to getting the permanent head coaching job and being introduced to the Torero campus community on April 3 was a whirlwind experience. So, too, were a few ways in which the 40-year-old coach introduced himself to a few students the following day on campus. He was an Aromas barista for a little while and later, he shuttled a few students from their parking spaces to buildings where their classrooms resided.

Men's Tennis

The USD men's tennis team split its two West Coast Conference road matches this past weekend, defeating San Francisco 4-1 on Saturday, but falling 4-0 at Santa Clara on Sunday.

The latter loss snapped a few Torero win streaks. The loss to Santa Clara was USD's first in WCC play this season, stopping a four-match win streak. It also marked the first time USD has lost to Santa Clara since 2012.

The win over San Francisco started the weekend off promisingly. Nico Borter and Pratt Keerasuntonpong won their doubles match to help USD win the doubles point and both players won their respective singles matches. Also, winning in doubles to clinch the point was the team of Alex Araouzos and David Norfeldt. Along with Borter and Keerasuntonpong, Araouzos also won in singles for the WCC victory.

On Sunday, though, it was all Santa Clara. The Broncos won the doubles point in spite of Araouzos-Norfeldt winning their doubles match. Santa Clara got three singles wins at the expense of Joel Gamerov, Norfeldt and Keerasuntonpong.

Next Matches: USD Men's Tennis hosts Pepperdine, Thursday, 1 p.m., USD's Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center; USD hosts Loyola Marymount, Sunday, 1 p.m., Hogan Tennis Center.

Women's Tennis

Winning breeds confidence. That's what the USD women's tennis team hopes is the case as its triumphed this past Friday and Saturday against nonconference foe Long Beach State and then West Coast Conference opponent San Francisco, respectively.

Against Long Beach State, USD won the doubles point on wins by its No. 1 team of Nicole Anderson and Daniela Morales and No. 2 Colomba DeFilippo and Maria-Paula Torres. In singles, victories by Anderson, Morales and Carolin Nonnenmacher closed out the 49ers, whose lone win came at No. 3 singles.

The Toreros then improved their WCC mark to 2-4 with a 4-0 shutout home win over the Dons. Again, the doubles point was secured by wins for Anderson-Morales and DeFilippo-Torres. In singles play, Morales, DeFilippo and Nonnenmacher secured victories to give USD its fourth shutout victory of the season.

USD is now 10-8 overall and has two big WCC road matches later this week.

Next Matches: USD Women's Tennis at Pepperdine, Friday, Malibu, Calif., 1:30 p.m.; USD at Loyola Marymount, Saturday, Los Angeles, 11 a.m.

Softball

The USD softball team began West Coast Conference play this past weekend and things looked great at first. The Toreros swept a home doubleheader against Saint Mary's on Saturday to clinch the series, but on Sunday, the Gaels rallied to win 6-4 and prevent the sweep.

On Saturday, the Toreros, behind a 4-for-7 day at the plate by Sara Silveyra and a walk off single by Katie Vretzos, earned a 5-4 victory in the opener. Later in the day, USD blanked Saint Mary’s, 3-0, behind the strong pitching of Hannah Boos (9-3) and solid defense.

In game 1, Silveyra had three hits and two RBI, Lindsay Clare had two hits and Kailey Hill was 1-for-3 with a double to drive in two runs. In game two, Boos' pitching was accompanied by strong defensive plays by Taylor Spence, Clare and Hannah Gilliland.

In Sunday's defeat, Spence was a bright spot, going four for four -- all singles, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. The four hits gave her 171 career hits, good for eighth place on USD's all-time list. Five other players had at least one hit.

The Toreros have a 23-17 overall record and are 2-1 in the WCC standings.

Next Games: USD Softball at Santa Clara, Saturday, noon and 2 p.m., Sunday, noon.

Golf

The USD men's golf team finished in 12th place out of 17 teams competing at the Seattle University-hosted Redhawk Invitational at the Chambers Bay Golf Course April 2-3. The Toreros posted a three-round total of 914, including a 294 on the final day.

Top golfers for USD were Nathan Zhao, who was tied for 35th at 228 (76-78-74). Dalton Hankamer was tied for 45th at 230 (76-78-76).

The final tournament for the team prior to the West Coast Conference Championship event, takes place today and Tuesday at the Loyola Marymount University-hosted Geiberger Invitational at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif. Teams will be playing on the par 72, 7,204-yard Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course.

Rowing — Women, Men

The next races for women and men's rowing will be this coming weekend on opposite ends of the United States. The women's team will compete at the Lake Natoma, Calif., Invitational in Northern California April 14-15. The men's team, meanwhile, will travel to Philadelphia to participate in the Kerr Cup on April 14.

Women's Track

The next opportunity for members of the USD women's track team and for USD male distance runners to compete will come on April 19 in two separate Southern California area meets, the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, and at the Mount San Antonio Invitational in Torrance.

Connect with USD Athletics

For all USD Athletics news, scores and information, visit the website and follow the Toreros on social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.