Jan. 19, 2002
Melbourne, Australia - San Diego State dropped the final game of its Australian tour to the Victoria Aces, 8-2, in a contest played Sunday morning ta Altona Stadium near Melbourne. The Aztecs concluded their preseason slate of games down under with a record of 7-3.
SDSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning of the seven-inning contest. Jake McLintock (single), Riley Barrett (bunt single) and Josh Hill (walk) loaded the bases with no outs. McLintock came home on a wild pitch followed by Barrett who scored on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Cook.
The Aztec lead didn't last long, however, as Victoria rallied for three in the bottom of the inning. The big blow was a two-run double by left fielder Adam Burton that bounced off the center field wall to drive home the final two runs of the inning.
Joe Carque suffered the loss for the Aztecs, going the first four innings. He allowed three runs on four hits and struck out three. Reliever Erik Fiedler, the victim of some shaky Aztec defense, threw one inning and gave up five runs, four unearned.
The Aces struck four times in the fifth t0o effectively put the game away. After Fiedler walked Myles Barnden with two out and the bases loaded for Victoria's first run of the inning, he induced Shane Hogan to hit a fly ball to left. Outfielder Chad Redfern, who had to go to his left to make the paly, allowed the ball to bounce off his glove and three runs scored. Victoria added another unearned run in the sixth when catcher Brian Manfred's attempted pickoff of Glynn Kimberly at third sailed over third baseman Garrett Cook's head.
Victoria got five solid innings from starter Greg Wiltshire, a former player in the Orioles organization. He went five innings, allowing five hits and tow runs to pick up the win.
With the completion of the games in Melbourne, the Aztecs will now prepare for the long flight home on Monday, Jan. 21. The team will arrive in Los Angeles at 10:30 a.m. on Monday.
Up next for the tam is the annual Alumni Weekend with a game against former Aztecs set for Friday (Jan. 25) at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. SDSU opens its 2002 regular season with a five-game series at Hawaii-Hilo beginning Jan. 31.
Victoria 8, San Diego State 2SDS 020 000 0 - 2 6 4VIC 030 051 x - 8 8 1Carque, Fiedler (5), Moat (6) and ManfredWiltshire, Dewar (6) and DawesW - WiltshireL - CarqueSv - NoneHR - none