By Kirk Kenney | [email protected] | The San Diego Union-Tribune
The University of San Diego baseball team opened the 2025 season with eight straight losses. The Toreros were 6-25 at midseason when they began the biggest comeback in program history.
Playing the nation's 11th-most difficult non-conference schedule had something to do with the first-half struggles. Flushing that and focusing their attention on West Coast Conference play turned the tide for the Toreros.
They went 19-5 in the WCC to win the conference for the second straight season and earn the No. 1 seed in this week's WCC Baseball Tournament at Las Vegas Ballpark.
"Our motto was not to get distracted by the results and really trust our process as a program," said USD coach Brock Ungricht, who was named WCC Coach of the Year for the second straight season. "We had to dig into our team culture and rally around one another to focus on playing hard, staying positive and competing with everything we had.
"Our guys put their heads down and continued to stay together and work tirelessly each and every day. They never lost belief in themselves or one another."
USD (25-28) opens the double-elimination tournament Thursday against the winner of Wednesday's late play-in game between No. 4 Loyola Marymount (27-27) and No. 5 Portland (22-29). The Toreros swept their three-game home series against Portland this season and won one of three games at LMU.
What's at stake: The WCC tournament champion receives the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Regionals.
How to watch: The championship game will be broadcast on ESPNU. All other games (including an if-necessary championship game) will be streamed on ESPN+.
About the Toreros: USD is first in the WCC in fielding (.977), second in batting (.280), third in runs per game (6.3), fourth in RBIs (300), fifth in homers (55), sixth in stolen bases (41) and seventh in ERA (6.34).
Smith (4-4, 6.35 ERA, 4 SV), a senior left-hander from Granite Hills High School, also was a key member of the staff.