Feb. 27, 2002
San Diego - San Diego State scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to complete its second comeback of the night and went on to defeat Point Loma Nazarene, 12-9, Wednesday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win improved the Aztecs' record against the Crusaders to 41-0 all-time dating back to 1955 when the school was known as Pasadena College. With the victory, SDSU improved to 11-6 on the year while Pt. Loma fell to 11-6-1.
It was a night of big innings for both teams as each side scored three or more times in an inning twice during the contest. The Crusaders were the first to do so, sending home four runs in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. The big blow in the inning was a bases-clearing double by designated hitter Matt Mamula. Mamula was a thorn in the Aztecs' side all night as he had an RBI single in the first and also delivered a solo home run in the fifth to account for five of his team's first six RBIs.
Down 6-1, San Diego State fought back to tie the game with a run in the fourth on a RBI single by Anthony Gwynn and four more runs in the sixth. A one-out Crusader throwing error after a ground ball off the bat of Chad Redfern allowed Josh Allen and Taber Lee to score from third and second respectively. Later in the inning, RBI singles by Jake McLintock and Garrett Cook knotted the score at 6-6.
Just when it looked like SDSU had the momentum, Pt. Loma leadoff hitter Brandon Hanly delivered a three-run homer off Aztec reliever Joe Carque in the top of the seventh to stake the Crusaders to a 9-6 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Aztecs answered back with six runs in their half of the seventh. They tied the game on pinch hitter Josh Hill's three-run home run to dead center field that came after back-to-back walks to Lee and Gwynn.
In the same inning, after Carlo Cota singled off reliever Jason Sweet, Jon Stephens delivered a two-out RBI double to drive in the go-head run. An ensuing walk to Cook brought up designated hitter Riley Barrett, and he came through with a two-RBI double to left center to close out the scoring.
Joe Carque, who worked 1.2 innings in relief, picked up his second win of the season against no defeats. Junior Royce Ring pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two, to record his fourth save of the year. Sweet (0-2) took the loss for the Crusaders.
Junior shortstop Taber Lee led the Aztecs offense with three hits (including a double), a pair of walks and two runs scored. Four other starters had a pair of hits apiece including Gwynn, McLintock, Cook and Barrett.
The win gave San Diego State head coach Jim Dietz his 1199th career victory. Dietz, now in his 31st and final season as the Aztec coach, could pick up his 1200th career win this weekend when SDSU hosts Southern Utah. The first contest of that three-game series will be played Friday, March 1, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
San Diego State 12, Pt. Loma Nazarene 9PLN 104 010 300 - 9 11 1SDS 100 104 60x - 12 15 0Woychak, Wardell (6), Tuttle (6), Johnson (7), Sweet (7), Hoover (7) and MohrHarrand, Hartshorn (3), Harang (6), Carque (7), Ring (9) and AllenW - Carque (2-0)L - Sweet (0-2)Sv - Ring (4)HR - PLN: Mamula (5th-none on), Hanly (7th-two on) SDS: Hill (7th-two on)Att. - 595Time - 3:51