April 3, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Sophomore right-hander Kyle Blair pitched a complete game to help lead the 23rd-rannked University of San Diego baseball team to a 9-4 West Coast Conference win over Santa Clara University Friday evening at Schott Stadium.
With the win the Toreros improve to 20-11 overall and remain undefeated in WCC action at 4-0. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 10-14 overall, and 0-4 in the WCC.
The Toreros got on the scoreboard first, as in the third inning, Nick McCoy hit an RBI single up the middle, to push across Jon Hotta, who had walked, to give USD an early 1-0 lead.
The Toreros would add two more runs in the fourth inning on a pair of hits. James Meador led off the inning with a double to right field and Zach Walters dove in Meador with a run-scoring triple to right field. Hotta then brought Walters home on a sacrifice bunt to give USD a 3-0 lead.
The Toreros then put the game out of reach with a five-run fifth inning. McCoy led off the frame with a double to centerfield and he moved to third on a Sean Nicol infield bunt single. Chris Engell then drove in McCoy, when he reached on a RBI fielder's choice. Meador drove in Nicol from second with a run-scoring double down the left field line and Walters then drove in Engell with a RBI ground out to the second baseman. Back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Tony Strazzara and Steven Chatwood then capped the scoring for the inning to give the Toreros a 8-0 lead.
SCU ten took back four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the deficit in half. The Bronco runs came on Parra RBI single, a Klein RBI single, a Fuerst sacrifice fly, and a Wagner run-scoring double to move the score to 8-4.
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The Toreros would take back one run in the top of the ninth inning on a Strazzara RBI single up the middle to score Engell, who had singled, putting the game at its final of 9-4.
Offensively for the Toreros, Walters and Strazzara led the way as they both went 2-for-4 with two RBI apiece.
Blair (3-1) picked up the on the mound for the Toreros, as he allowed four runs on 10 hits, while striking out eight in 9.0 innings of work. Nate Garcia (4-3) was saddled with the loss for the Broncos as he allowed eight runs on nine hits in 6.0 innings of work.
The Toreros will return to action on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. as they continue their three-game series with Santa Clara.
