April 20, 2001
SAN DIEGO - Junior left-hander Marcos Mendoza struck out 17 batters and allowed only two hits in San Diego State's 3-1 win over New Mexico on Friday at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
With the victory, SDSU improved to 24-17 on the year and 13-6 in Mountain West Conference play, while UNM dropped to 18-27 overall and 8-11 in conference.
The one run that Mendoza (Grossmont HS) did allow was unearned, as he cruised through the Lobo lineup, recording at least one strikeout against every UNM batter. Mendoza struck out the first seven batters he faced en route to recording his third consecutive complete game victory. His 17 strikeouts was one short of the school record, held by John Hemmerly, who fanned 18 Colorado State batters in 1988.
Mendoza had a no-hitter going after six innings of play, but his bid for SDSU's first no-no since 1989 fell short when New Mexico third baseman Aaron Stanley led off the seventh with a single to center. Interestingly, just two pitches before Stanley broke up the no-hitter, a black cat ran onto the field, halting play for just a few moments before exiting behind the Aztec bullpen along the left field line.
Stanley advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw to first by Mendoza, and came around to score when Lobo catcher Scott Tajima singled to center. From that point on, however, no New Mexico batter reached base, as Mendoza struck out five of the final six batters he faced.
Four different Aztec batters banged out two hits in the contest, with outfielder Sean Pierce extending his hitting streak to 13 games with a 2-for-4 effort.
The SDSU offense had no problems getting to UNM pitcher Chris Cooper, who took the loss after allowing 11 hits. However, the Aztecs had difficulty cashing in on their chances, stranding six runners and grounding into two double plays.
SDSU and New Mexico will hook up again at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on the official website of San Diego State athletics, www.goaztecs.com, with Alan Horton calling all the action.