March 3, 2002
San Diego - Josh Hill's RBI single in the eighth drove in Carlo Cota from third base, breaking a 3-3 deadlock and propelling San Diego State to a 4-3 win over Southern Utah at Tony Gwynn Stadium Sunday afternoon. The victory, SDSU's fourth straight, improved the team's record to 14-6 while the Thunderbirds fell to 1-17.
The Aztecs opened the scoring in their first at bat as Anthony Gwynn singled, stole second, went to third on a groundout and came home on Jake McLintock's grounder to second base.
The Thunderbirds came back with a run in the fourth when an error by Aztec starter Mike Moat allowed Aaron Lancaster to score from third with one out. Moat, who was not involved in the decision, went 6.2 innings, struck out seven, and gave up SUU's three runs, all of which were unearned.
San Diego regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Carlo Cota followed Gwynn's one-out single with an RBI double down the left field line. After a McLintock single advanced Cota to third, he scored on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Jon Stephens to give the Aztecs a 3-1 lead.
However, that lead was short-lived as Southern Utah knotted the score at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the seventh. A walk to Jake Reynolds and catcher's interference on Kurtis Yocum brought in Aztec reliever Erik Feidler from the bullpen to replace Moat.
Fiedler struck out the next batter, Aaron Lancaster, but a wild pitch on the play allowed Lancaster to reach first and load the bases. Designated hitter Jared Meek then delivered a two-run single to drive in Reynolds and Yocum and tie the contest.
Joe Carque (3-0), who came on in the eighth to record two outs following a one-out single by McKay Wilkerson, picked up the win in relief. Aztec coach Jim Dietz called on closer Royce Ring to finish out the game, and the junior lefty responded by striking out the side in the ninth to record his fifth save of the season.
Offensively, Hill finished his day going 2-for-4 with two RBIs including the game-winner. Anthony Gwynn and Jon Stephens also picked up two hits apiece for the Aztecs.
Up next for San Diego State is a three-game series with UC Irvine beginning Friday evening (March 8) at 6:00 p.m. at the Anteaters' home field. Action shifts to Tony Gwynn Stadium on Saturday (March 9) for a 4:00 p.m. contest, then returns to Irvine next Sunday (March 10) for a 1:00 p.m. start.
All three of those games can be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton calling the play-by-play.
San Diego State 4, Southern Utah 3SUU 000 100 200 - 3 8 0SDS 100 002 01x - 4 8 2Moat, Fiedler (7), Carque (8) Ring (9) and AllenAnderson, Kemp (8) and NelsonW - Carque (3-0)L - Anderson (1-2)Sv - Ring (5)HR - NoneAtt. - 542Time - 2:26