Aztecs Edged by Nevada on Saturday, 4-3

RENO, Nev. – San Diego State experienced a reversal of fortune on Saturday as Nevada scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to hand the Aztecs a 4-3 defeat in the second game of a Mountain West series at Don Weir Field at Peccole Park.

Despite the setback, SDSU (16-36, 11-15 MW) still maintains a share of fifth place in the conference standings after Air Force and San José State both lost on Saturday, as the top six teams qualify for the MW Championship in Mesa, Arizona later this month.

Conversely, the Wolf Pack (30-20, 16-10 MW) remain in a three-way logjam for first place alongside co-leaders Fresno State and New Mexico.

With the score knotted at 2-2, the Aztecs vaulted in front on Jonathan Smith’s hot smash behind the bag at first, which plated Evan Sipe with an unearned run.

Previously, Sipe reached on another sharp infield hit that deflected off pitcher Alessandro Castro before advancing on Evan Escobar’s sacrifice and Finley Bates’ grounder to shortstop that was mishandled by Michael Ball.

Nevada eventually tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth on Sean Yamaguchi’s leadoff home run. The Wolf Pack soon threatened to take the lead later in the inning when Billy Ham was hit by a pitch and Taylor Holder drew a walk. However, Evan Miranda took the mound for starter Omar Serrano and promptly struck out Jackson Waller to prevent further damage.

After reliever Dominic Dresch retired SDSU in order in the top of the ninth, the stage was set for a dramatic finish when Jacob Doyle was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the inning. Peyton Rodgers was summoned from the Aztec bullpen and induced a flyout to pinch hitter Donovan Ratfield before Doyle stole second and advanced on Jake Harvey’s groundout to first.

With one more out needed to send the contest into extra innings, Yamaguchi was intentionally walked. However, Doyle raced home with the winning run when Jayce Dobie singled to second base without a throw, saddling the Scarlet and Black with the hard-luck defeat.

Dobie’s hit made a winner of Dresch, who improved to 6-1 on the season after offsetting two hits and one walk with a pair of strikeouts in 2 1/3 scoreless innings, while Miranda (0-2) took the loss.

SDSU out-hit Nevada 10-9, including a 3-for-5 performance from Smith, while CJ Moran (2 RBIs) and Zane Kelly collected two hits apiece in the loss.

The Aztecs scored the first run of the afternoon thanks to consecutive one-out singles by Smith, Nevan Noonan and Moran in the top of the first.

SDSU then extended its advantage in the third when Moran reached on a fielder’s choice to third, allowing Bates to safely cross the plate. Earlier, Bates singled up the middle and advanced on Smith’s base hit to center and Noonan’s deep flyout to left.

However, the Wolf Pack tied the game in the sixth when Harvey led off with a base hit to right-center and ultimately scored on Dobie’s RBI single, while Holder was struck by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in Yamaguchi from third.

Serrano pitched 7 2/3 innings for the Aztecs, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks with five strikeouts, while his counterpart Castro tossed 6 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on nine hits and no walks with a pair of strikeouts.

Doyle tied Smith for game-high honors with three hits, while Harvey, Ham and Yamaguchi finished with two apiece.

UP NEXT
San Diego State will wrap up its weekend excursion to Reno on Sunday with the rubber game of its series against Nevada, starting at 12:05 p.m. PT. The Aztecs are expected to start left-hander Garvey Rumary (2-6), while the Wolf Pack are projected to counter with right-hander Casey Burfield (3-2).