Crane Lifts USD to Victory Over Pepperdine

Jeff Crane pitched a complete game, allowing two runs and five hits as the University of San Diego upset 11th-ranked Pepperdine in a West Coast Conference baseball game Sunday at Eddy D. Field Stadium.

Crane allowed two runs on a two-run homer by Dan Melendez in the fourth inning. USD scored two in the first and two in the fourth to improve to 17-15, 9-6 in the WCC. Kevin Herde hit a two-run shot for the Toreros in the first and Josh Stepner keyed the decisive fourth with an RBI-single.

Pepperdine fell to 21-9-1, 10-4.

San Diego State scored three runs in the second and three in the third inning and defeated Utah, 7-1, in a Western Athletic Conference game at Smith Field. Greg Page and Marcelino Garcia each had two hits and Derek Vinyard drove in two runs, including the game winner, to help the Aztecs improve to 22-7, 6-1. Winning pitcher Jerry Stafford and John Lynn allowed six hits between them as Utah fell to 5-9, 0-4.

UC San Diego upset Cal Lutheran, 5-3, to force a second game in the championship of the UCSD Tournament then lost to the Kingsmen, 9-4, Saturday. Cal Lutheran is ranked No. 2 in Division III; the Tritons are ranked sixth. The loss was the first for Cal Lutheran (22-1), while UCSD is now 14-3-1.

MEN’S TENNIS

San Diego State defeated top-seeded UC Irvine, 5-1, to capture fifth place in the Irvine Marriott Tournament. Chris Numbers improved to 17-2, beating Fred Bach, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 singles. Jeff Belloli clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-6 defeat of Neel Grober at No. 5 singles. The No. 25 Aztecs improved to 13-3.

SIGNINGS

Mesha Stallings, who averaged 19.6 points and more than 10 rebounds per game while leading San Diego High to a 8-12 season, has signed a women’s basketball letter of intent to Howard University. Stallings was the county’s fifth leading scorer, totalling 373 points in 19 games during the regular season.