March 8, 2002

Box Score

(San Francisco) - San Diego used a six-run fifth inning to cruise into a 18-6 win against USF in the opening game of the West Coast Conference schedule Friday at Benedetti Diamond. The Dons took the early lead in the game but were not able to keep up with the offensive attack from the Toreros.

The Dons (6-12, 0-1) thwarted an early rush from the Toreros (17-3, 1-0) in the first to strand junior center fielder at third. USF then jumped on the board and posted two runs to take the early 2-0 lead. Junior center fielder Nick Tarbat led off the first with a walk and was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore third baseman Greg Kagawa. Sophomore left fielder Joe Jacobitz was hit by a pitch putting two Dons on and was followed by a walk to sophomore first baseman Nick Cirbo to load the bases for USF. Senior catcher Steve Booth blasted a double down the left field line to knock in Tarbat and Jacobitz to take the lead.

The Toreros answered back in the second inning to take a 3-2 lead. Junior center fielder Tom Caple knocked in all three runs with a deep double to left field and was thrown out a third from left field.

Once more, the Dons rallied back to take the lead in the third inning. Junior right fielder Alfonso Valdez knocked in Jacobitz with an RBI single to tie the score. Booth then scored on an error by the third baseman to take the 4-3 lead in the contest. The Toreros answered back once more to retie the game at 4-4 in the fourth. A huge fifth inning for USD posted six runs to give the Toreros a 10-4 lead. USD extended the lead in the seventh with two more runs, five runs in the eighth and one final run in the ninth to finish the contest. The Dons tried to rally back in the seventh when Jacobitz blasted a two-run homerun but were unable to thwart the offensive efforts of the Toreros.

Booth who went 3-for-3 at the plate with one run scored, two RBI and a double led the Dons today. Jacobitz also had a day finishing 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI off his late inning homerun. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Kevin Rose (0-3) took the loss for the Dons today giving up 11 hits and nine runs in 4.2 innings of work. Rose was relieved by senior right-hander Peter Dunkle who completed 1.2 innings and gave up four hits and three runs. Sophomore southpaw Daniel Della Maggiora came in to pitch 1.2 innings and junior right-hander Zach Brooks closed the game for the Dons giving up one run and only two hits in 1 inning of work.

San Diego launched an offensive attack on the Dons that included 23 hits on the day including 11 extra base hits. The Toreros blasted three homeruns in the contest as well as one triple and seven doubles. Caple finished the day for USD 4-for-6 at the plate with five RBI and two runs scored and two doubles. Also leading the Toreros was sophomore outfielder Joey Prast who finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored, two RBI, two walks, and a homerun. Eight Toreros finished the day with at least one hit. Junior left-handed pitcher Ricky Barrett collected the win today for San Diego improving his record to 3-0. Barrett gave up five hits and six runs in 6.1 innings of work. He was relieved in the seventh by sophomore right-hander Matt Coy who gave up no runs and only two hits in 1.2 innings. Freshman right-hander Sean Warlop finished the contest for the Toreros giving up no runs and no hits in 1 inning.

The Dons and Toreros return to action tomorrow for the second game of a three-game conference series at Benedetti Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM. Log on to www.usfdons.com for all the play-by-play action.