Torero Athletics: Men's Tennis Captures WCC Regular-Season Title; Spring Roundup

Torero Athletics: Men's Tennis Captures WCC Regular-Season Title; Spring Roundup

Gui Osorio, USD men's tennisThe University of San Diego men's tennis team defeated Saint Mary's April 21 to clinch the West Coast Conference regular-season team championship. The Toreros play in the WCC Tournament this weekend.

The University of San Diego men's tennis team notched its fourth West Coast Conference regular-season title in the last five years on April 21 when it concluded WCC play with a 4-3 road victory over Saint Mary’s.

Gui Osorio and David Norfeldt won their singles matches moments apart to cap the come-from-behind win. San Diego (14-8, 8-1 WCC) trailed or was tied throughout the match until Osorio and Norfeldt delivered the final victories.

Trailing 3-2 overall in the match, Osorio earned a comeback victory in the No. 2 position, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Norfeldt put the finishing touches on the team victory, winning his first set, 6-4, then grinding out a second set win, 7-6 (2).

The singles victories were key after USD dropped the doubles point. USD fell behind early as the Gaels’ Damon Kesaris and Nash Vollenweider topped Nico Borter and Osorio at the No. 1 spot, 6-4. Alex Araouzos and Norfeldt were edged at No. 2 by Matthew Campana and Matis Bot, 7-5.

Borter’s singles win at No. 3 got USD back in it and August Holmgren won at No. 1 to even the score at 2. Saint Mary’s regained the lead when its No. 6 singles player defeated USD’s Pratt Keerasuntonpong. Then came Osorio and Norfeldt’s heroics to clinch the title.

“This has been quite the season and I couldn’t be happier for this team and what they have achieved," said USD Head Men’s Tennis Coach Ryan Keckley. "I am so proud of them for taking the regular-season WCC title but we still have a lot of work to do in order to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year."

The stage was set for USD’s title win as the Toreros blanked host Pacific, 4-0, on April 20. The Toreros won the doubles point on wins by the teams of Holmgren-Joel Gamerov and Norfeldt-Araouzos. Osorio, Gamerov and Norfeldt won their singles matches.

Next Matches: USD Men's Tennis at WCC Championship Tournament, Biszantz Family Tennis Center, Claremont, Calif.

Baseball

The USD baseball team started its week well, spotting visiting Cal State Fullerton a 4-0 lead and then scoring 10 unanswered runs to pick up the 10-4 nonconference victory at Fowler Park.

Then came the weekend in which San Diego suffered a three-game series sweep by West Coast Conference foe, Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif.

Friday’s game was a 14-1 blowout win by the Waves, who collected 16 hits and knocked starter Nick Sprengel out of the game after 2/3 of an inning, giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits. His replacement, Gabriel Ponce allowed seven hits and six earned runs in 2.1 innings. Louie Crow allowed five more runs in three innings. San Diego’s lone run was an RBI single by Dante Gutierrez in the sixth inning.

On Saturday, USD starting pitcher Paul Richan turned in a solid effort, scattering eight hits over eight innings while totaling five strikeouts, but he was outdone by Waves starter Jonathan Pendergast who pitched a complete game two-hit shutout in a 4-0 Waves win. San Diego’s two hits were singles by Daniel Gardner and Adam Kerner. The win secured Pepperdine’s first series win over USD since the 2014 season.

Pepperdine closed the series with a 7-4 win on Sunday. Down 2-0 through five innings the Toreros rallied for four runs in the sixth inning only to see the Waves answer with five of their own in the bottom half. Paul Kunst paced San Diego’s offense with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.

San Diego’s record is 18-22 overall, 7-11 in the WCC.

Next Games: USD Baseball at UC Irvine, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.; USD at BYU Thursday-Friday-Saturday, 5 p.m., 5 p.m., 1 p.m.

Softball

The USD softball team had won two of three game series in the first few weeks of West Coast Conference play. This past weekend, at Pacific, the Toreros suffered their first WCC series loss.

Pacific topped USD, 5-2 and 6-5, in a doubleheader Saturday and then recorded a 6-3 win Sunday to complete the sweep.

Sara Silveyra collected three hits in Saturday's two games, getting an RBI in each, for the Toreros. Pacific, however, led early in the first game and never gave up the lead and then rallied with four runs in the sixth inning of game two to win that one. Still, though, for USD, Shelbi Evans had a bases-loaded double to drive in three in game two.

On Sunday, the Toreros tried to salvage a win as they had bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning, but Pacific got out of the jam. USD's offense was paced by Evans' two hits and a hit and an RBI each by Kailey Hill, Katie Vretzos and Silveyra.

USD's record is now 25-21 overall and 4-5 in WCC play.

Next Games: USD Softball hosts Loyola Marymount, Saturday (12/2 p.m.), Sunday at 12 p.m., USD Softball Complex.

Women's Tennis

The USD women's tennis team closed out its regular-season schedule at the university’s on-campus Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center courts with a 4-0 West Coast Conference win over Pacific on April 22.

The victory improved USD's overall record to 11-10 and 3-6 in WCC play.

In the team's final tune-up for this weekend's WCC Championship Tournament, the Toreros earned the doubles point with match wins by the teams of Nicole Anderson-Daniela Morales and Colomba DiFilippo-Maria-Paula Torres. In singles play, USD's points were earned by Morales, Gemma Garcia and Carolin Nonnenmacher.

For DiFilippo, a redshirt senior, Sunday's match was her final one as a Torero. There was a short pre-match celebration for her (see video for more).

Next Matches: USD Women's Tennis at WCC Championship Tournament, Biszantz Family Tennis Center, Claremont, Calif.

Golf

Daniel Hankamer shot a three-day total of 215 (69, 74 and 72), to finish tied for ninth place in the West Coast Conference Championship Tournament, hosted by USD at the par-72 Carlton Oaks Golf Club in Santee, Calif., April 16-18.

The sophomore lefthander's finish, which earned him a WCC honorable mention selection, led USD to an 882 total score, good for seventh place in the nine-team field. USD finished ahead of Pacific and Gonzaga.

USD's other top golfers were Daniel Lopez (77-72-72) and Tyler Gulliksen (75-73-73), both of whom tied for 22nd with a 221 total. 

Pepperdine won the team title with a three-day total of 838. Clay Feagler of Pepperdine was the individual medalist at 202 (70-69-63), 14-under par.

Track

The USD women’s track team runners — and Torero male distance runners — endured a long day of competition at two separate venues in Southern California April 19.

At El Camino College, Hannah Rasmussen raced a strong freshmen time for the 10km. All of the female Toreros earned personal bests in the 10km race, including Julie Giannini, Cassidy Kuhn and Maggie Scholle. Max Pedrotti ran a personal best at the Mt. Sac Relays in the 10km event. Pedrotti finished with a time of 31:31.77.

The Toreros took away 11 personal bests for the two races where they competed in the 3km steeplechase, 5km, 1500-meter, and the 10km. Natalie North-Cole earned a personal best time of 11:19 in the 3km steeplechase. Ally Roessling, Hailey Purtzer, Molly Klein, and Haley Shipway earned personal bests in the 5km race.

On April 20, the team competed in their third meet of the week at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, Calif. Some of the most notable performances in the 800 meter-came from Sara Parvin and Kate Kohler. They finished in fourth and fifth place, and both earned personal bests.

Zani Moore raced a personal best in the 1500. Her performance was followed by Natalie North-Cole and Ally Roessling who both post personal bests in the event. Freshman runner Jessica Ong raced a personal best in the 1500 and took second in her heat.

Next Race: USD track team at Adidas/Steve Scott Invite, Saturday, Irvine.

Rowing (Women and Men)

The San Diego women’s rowing team suffered tough losses on the road April 20 at the Ohio State double dual. Both boats earned third-place spots in both sessions of races.

The Toreros faced top-ranked crews including No. 15 Michigan State, No. 19 Duke and Notre Dame. Both the V8+ and 2V8+ boats traveled to compete in the double header on the Griggs Reservoir. 

The first flight of races for USD was against Duke and Michigan State. The 2V8+ placed third with a time of 7:11. The V8+ also placed third with a time of 6:54. In the afternoon, the women took on Michigan State for the second time, and Notre Dame. The Toreros finished third in both races. The 2V8+ clocked in at 6:53 while the V8+ finished at 6:42.

The San Diego men’s rowing team will compete at the WIRA Championships on Saturday and Sunday in Rancho Cordova, Calif.

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