TOREROS START SEASON ON HITTING BINGE
USD scored 45 runs in its four-game sweep of UC San Diego over the weekend, capping the series with Sunday’s 8-2 victory at Fowler Park.
“That’s one of the best offensive performances over a weekend that I’ve ever been a part of, and that’s 35 years,” USD head coach Rich Hill said.
He was not simply referring to the run total for the Toreros (7-3) but the way they went about producing those runs.
USD had only two strikeouts in Sunday’s win. A day earlier, they didn’t have any strikeouts.
They regularly got leadoff hitters on base, were productive hitting with both two strikes and two outs, adept at moving up on pitches in the dirt and taking the extra base on hits.
“It’s probably because we have an older group that is very focused and driven,” Hill said. “Tons of buy-in, great culture and these guys have just been through it a little bit.”
When the 2020 season was halted — Friday will mark the one-year anniversary — the NCAA made up for it by giving players an additional year of eligibility.
The Toreros have benefited big time. Several players in the starting lineup — such as catcher Shane McGuire, third baseman Adam Lopez, center fielder Paul Kunst and second baseman Thomas Luevano — likely wouldn’t still be here had it not been for the circumstances created by the pandemic.
McGuire has a team-high four home runs. Luevano has three homers, including a threerun shot Sunday in the eighth inning.
Luevano drove in a gamehigh four runs, giving him a team-high 16 RBIs. Lopez is second with 15 RBIs.
On the pitching side, a player USD wouldn’t otherwise have welcomed to the team this season is reliever Kieran Shaw, a graduate transfer from Harvard.
Shaw pitched an inning in Thursday night’s opener against UCSD and struck out all three hitters he faced.
On Sunday, he entered the game with one out in the sixth inning and retired all 11 batters he faced (five of them on strikeouts). Hill said Shaw threw four pitches for strikes, including “a power curve, money slider and a two seam that was filthy” while touching 96 mph.
This week: Friday-Sunday vs. UC Riverside, 3 p.m./1 p.m./1 p.m.
Tritons update
UCSD (1-7) is having its struggles on offense and with its starting pitching after its first two weekends of Division I baseball.
Anthony Lucchetti (.417) and Tate Soderstrom (.333) are the only players in the lineup hitting over .300. The Tritons are batting .230 as a team.
UCSD has compiled a team ERA of 7.73 (opponents are hitting .389), which is lower than any of the Tritons’ four starters. Aren Alvarez’s 8.59 ERA is the best among the starters.
This week: Thursday-Sunday vs. Santa Clara, 5 p.m./1 p.m./4 p.m./1 p.m.
Aztecs update
San Diego State (7-3 overall, 2-1 Mountain West) won its third straight series, capping the weekend with Sunday’s 12-7 victory over Fresno State at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Perhaps the biggest question coming out of the series: Can SDSU outfielder Jaden Fein win Mountain West Player of the Week for the third straight week? Fein came into the series batting .529 on the season — and raised his average to .587. The sophomore went 8-for-12 against the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-2) with seven RBIs.
This week: Saturday-Sunday vs. UNLV, 1 p.m. (DH)/1 p.m.
Sea Lions update
Point Loma Nazarene opened the season with three losses in four games against Vanguard.
Sea Lions pitching allowed only six runs in a Friday doubleheader at home, then gave up 19 runs a day later when the teams matched up for two more games at Vanguard.
PLNU doesn’t play again until opening PacWest play March 19 against Concordia.
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