San Diego, CA - With the scored tied at 1-1, the No. 15 ranked San Diego Toreros scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning to post a 4-1 win over the Saint Mary's baseball team, in the first game of a three-game West Coast Conference series from Cunningham Stadium on Friday afternoon.

The Gaels got seven hits off San Diego (35-19/18-1 WCC) starter Kyle Blair, but could only score one run against the Toreros on Friday. SMC got three hits from Justin Fazio, who was 3-for-4 on the day, as the junior left fielder also drove in the Gaels' only run of the day. With the three hits on Friday, Fazio is now hitting .331 for the season to lead SMC in batting average.

The lone run for SMC came in the third inning as the Gaels put three hits together against Blair. Michael Gastelum singled with one out, then Donald Collins followed with a single left field. Fazio followed with the third straight single to score Gastelum from second base. The possibility of a big inning came to an end when Troy Channing grounded out and Patrick Wisdom struck out to end the inning.

San Diego tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning following an RBI ground out by Zach Walters, scoring James Meador who doubled to open the inning.

Saint Mary's (18-31-1/7-12 WCC) starting pitcher Mark Anderson (5-5) pitched a complete game, but could not get the win, as the Toreros scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kevin Muno, who was 2-for-4, singled to open the inning, and after a sac bunt moved him to second, Steven Chatwood's double to right field score Muno for the winning run. Meader, who was 3-for-4, followed with an RBI single, then scored on a double by Walters.

San Diego reliever Matt Thomson threw a perfect ninth inning to earn his sixth save of the season, securing the win for USD starter Blair. Blair, who recorded 13 strikeouts on the day, improved to 8-4 on the year.

In addition to Fazio's three hits, Collins, Chris Murphy, Shawn O'Brien and Gastelum has one hit each for the Gaels.

The Gaels and Toreros will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Cunningham Stadium.