May 13, 2000
San Diego - San Diego State exploded for seven runs in the first inning and went on to defeat UNLV, 16-6, in a game played at Tony Gwynn Stadium Saturday night. It was the Aztecs' first win in five attempts against the Rebels who had been victorious in the first four meetings between the teams this season. It was also a stark contrast to Friday night's contest in which SDSU managed only two hits.
The win moved SDSU (30-27) to the 30-win mark this season and improved its Mountain West Conference record to 17-11. The loss dropped UNLV to 23-31 overall and 13-16 in league action. the loss means that the Rebels will finish in fifth place in the final standings and will meet San Diego State in the first round of the conference tournament which they will host beginning next Wednesday (May 17).
The game started on a positive note for UNLV as center fielder John Cruz hit a solo homer in the first to stake his side to a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, Billy Montgomery led off with a triple down the right field line and scored on Mart Ricardy's ground out to second base. With two out and nobody on, UNLV starter Joe Maruffi struck out Aztec designated hitter Jacob Minter, but the pitch was a wild one and Minter made it safely to first base. From there, the Aztecs went on to score six more runs on RBI doubles by Chad Chop and Montgomery sandwiched around a two-run home run by second baseman Carlo Cota.
Both Montgomery and Ricardy had four hits on the night including a pair of singles, double and triple. Montgomery scored three times while Ricardy had four runs batted in.
Freshman right-hander Chris Hartshorn threw seven innings to pick up his sixth win of the year. Of the five runs he gave up, only two were earned as he struck out four and walked none.
Maruffi, who lasted on two-third of an inning, took the loss to drop his season record to 5-7.
The Aztecs and Rebels will meet in the regular-season finale for both teams on Sunday (May 14) at 2:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The game may be heard live on the internet through this web site.
San Diego State 16, UNLV 6UNLV 100 400 010 - 6 11 7SDSU 702 321 01x - 16 16 1Maruffi, Bonnell (1), Anderson (4), Watts (6), Harris (8) and BeasleyHartshorn, Garber (8), Jon Minter (9) and Rogers, Rosenthal (7)W - Hartshorn (6-4)L - Maruffi (5-7)SV - NoneHR - UNLV: Cruz (1) SDSU: Cota (2)Time - 3:12Att - 378