Feb. 5, 2002
San Diego -
Feb. 5, 2002
Jon Stevens' two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth lifted San Diego State to a 5-4 come-from-behind win over UC Riverside at Tony Gwynn Stadium Tuesday night. The game, SDSU's fifth straight win, was the season home opener for the Aztecs and drew a crowd of 1,507, the largest ever to witness a collegiate game at the stadium. The win improved SDSU's record to 5-1 while Riverside fell to 2-2.
San Diego State jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first. After Anthony Gwynn led off with a single, he promptly stole second and was balked to third by UCR starter Matt Thiessen. Garrett Cook then delivered an RBI single to left center to bring in the first run of the game.
The Highlanders fought back to take a 2-1 lead, but Cook evened the score in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff home run to left center field. However, UCR took a 4-2 lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh before SDSU began its comeback.
The Aztecs scored in the bottom of the seventh when Taber Lee's RBI double scored Riley Barrett from second base. They knotted the score at 4-4 with a run in the eighth as David Hall scored from second on an infield single by Jon Stephens and throwing error by UCR shortstop Scott Powis. That set the stage for some last-inning heroics.
With two out in the ninth, San Diego State got consecutive singles from pinch hitter Josh Hill, Chad Corona and Josh Allen to load the bases. Jon Stephens then stepped up and drilled a 1-2 pitch into right center to score the winning run.
Royce Ring, who came on with one out and a runner on first in the top of the ninth, struck out the two batters he faced and picked up his first win of the season. Highlander reliever Enoc Jorrin took the loss to fall to 0-1.
Four Aztec pitchers, including starter Joe Carque and relievers Daryl Harang, Erik Feidler and Ring, struck out 15 Riverside batters on the night.
The Aztecs will now travel to Tucson where they will face Arizona in a three-game series beginning Thursday afternoon (Feb. 7) at 3:00 p.m. (MST). The first and third games of that set can be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton calling the action. There will be no broadcast of Friday's contest.
San Diego State 5, UC Riverside 4UCR 010 101 100 - 4 11 3SDS 100 100 111 - 5 13 1Thiessen, Curcie (7) Jorrin (8) and AndersonCarque, Harang (4), Fiedler (7), Ring (9) and Manfred, Allen (8)W - Ring (1-0)L - Jorrin (0-1)Sv - NoneHR - SDS: Cook (4th-none on)Att. - 1,507