May 3, 2001
San Diego - On a cold, blustery day in Salt Lake City, San Diego State used some clutch hitting and good relief pitching to defeat Utah, 9-7, at Franklin Covey Field.
The win improves the Aztecs to 28-21 on the year as they tighten their grip on second place in the Mountain West Conference with a 15-9 record. The Utes fell to 23-25 overall and 11-14 in league play.
SDSU opened the scoring with three runs in the second inning on singles by Darrell Bowles and Sean Pierce, an RBI double by Ben Leuthard, a ground out by Pilar and a run-scoring single by Brian Manfred. However, Utah came back with a pair of runs in both the second and third to take a 4-3 lead.
After the Aztecs tied the game in the fourth, they took the lead for good in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs on four hits. The big blow in the inning was a two-run homer by Darrell Bowles, his first as an Aztec. Bowles finished the day with three hits as did Sean Pierce who contributed a pair of doubles and scored three times.
After Utah closed the gap to 8-7, SDSU added an insurance run in the ninth as Rah-Miel Mitchell scored from third on Andy Litteral's sacrifice line drive to center field.
Shortstop Taber Lee extended his hitting streak to 11 game with a single and double. He has now recorded nine straight multiple-hit games. Leuthard and Manfred also had two hits apiece for SDSU.
Junior Marcos Mendoza (6-4) picked up the win, throwing six innings and allowing six runs. John Skinner gave up one unearned run in relief before Royce Ring closed out the game in the ninth to record his eighth save of the year.
For the Utes, starter Travis Palmer took the loss, falling to 5-4. They were led offensively by Chris Shelton whose three hits included a pair of home runs.
Utah and San Diego State continue their three-game series on Friday (May 4) at noon (MDT) in Salt Lake City, then conclude the set on Saturday (May 5) at the same time. Both of those games may be heard live on the internet at www.goaztecs.com beginning at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.
San Diego State 9, Utah 7SDSU 030 140 001 - 9 12 1Utah 022 010 200 - 7 17 1Mendoza, Skinner (7), Ring (9) and ManfredPalmer, McAfee (9) and SheltonW - Mendoza (6-4)L - Palmer (5-4)S - Ring (8)HR - SDSU: Bowles (1), Utah: Shelton-2 (16)Time - 2:38Att. - 53