San Diego at Pacific

STOCKTON, Calif. (Interstat) — The San Diego Toreros and Pacific Tigers played to an 11-11 tie Sunday evening at Klein Family Field, a wild back-and-forth affair that featured a combined 25 hits, six separate innings of at least three runs and two massive rallies that left the West Coast Conference rivals deadlocked.

San Diego, now 17-29-1, scratched out an early lead with a run in the second inning and another in the third, but the game turned decisively in the fifth. The Toreros extended their advantage to 4-0 in the top of the frame when catcher Jayden Lobliner crushed a two-run homer down the left-field line, scoring Andrew Gauna.

Pacific (22-25-1) answered in the bottom half with a seven-run outburst that flipped the score. Jake Tandy singled in the first run, Grant MacArthur added a sacrifice fly and Braeden Schnabel doubled to drive in another. Robert Orr followed with a two-run single and Blaine French launched a two-run homer to center field, propelling the Tigers to a 7-4 lead.

The Toreros refused to wilt. In the top of the seventh, San Diego sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six times to reclaim the advantage. Lobliner led off with a double and eventually scored on a two-run single by first baseman CJ Moran. After a walk to Gage Mestas, Andrew Gauna punched a two-run single through the right side, scoring Moran and Jayton Greer. Mestas came home on a wild pitch, and Phoenix Brant singled up the middle to plate Gauna, making it 10-7.

Pacific trimmed the deficit to 10-8 in the bottom of the seventh when Blaine French was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in an unearned run. San Diego added an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI single by Greer, scoring Diego Gonzalez, who had doubled.

But the Tigers staged one more rally in the bottom of the eighth. After a walk to Levi Sotomayor, JT Shank walked and Tandy doubled down the left-field line to cut the lead to 10-9. MacArthur followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 10, and Schnabel doubled to left-center to bring home the tying run, making it 11-11.

Neither team scored in the ninth. San Diego left two runners on base in the top half, and Pacific went down in order in the bottom.

Lobliner finished 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs for San Diego. Moran went 3-for-6 with three RBIs, and Gauna was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Phoenix Brant added two hits and two RBIs.

For Pacific, Jake Tandy was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Braeden Schnabel went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Blaine French homered and drove in three runs, and Robert Orr had a two-run single.

On the mound, San Diego starter Drake Frize threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on no hits with three strikeouts, but the Tigers’ seven-run fifth erased any chance of a win. Fernando Palencia threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the Toreros, and Nate DeSchryver recorded two outs without allowing a run. Pacific starter Garret Plata worked 4 1/3 innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts.

The game came one day after Pacific routed San Diego 18-6, and two days after the Tigers won 6-4. The Toreros now head home to face Loyola Marymount in a three-game series starting Thursday, while Pacific travels to Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday before a weekend series at Portland.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Pacific 6, San Diego 4. Interstatl’s ELO system had projected San Diego with a 75.10 percent probability to win.