Feb. 2, 2003
Santa Barbara - San Diego State took advantage of some timely hitting, good pitching and solid defense for the second straight day to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 6-3, Sunday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The win improved the Aztecs to 2-4 n the season while the Gauchos fell to 1-2.
SDSU got its third excellent starting pitching performance of the weekend as freshman Ronnie Lindsey went five innings, allowing a run on four hits while striking out four.
The Aztecs opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the third. With one out, Landon Burt reached on a fielding error by Gaucho shortstop Josh Fulton. Anthony Gwynn followed that with a bloop double to right center to put runners on second and third. Freshman shortstop James Guerrero then belted a triple to dead center field that scored both runners. Guerrero was driven home one batter later on Peter Stonard's sacrifice fly to left.
UCSB got a run back in the third when Josh McCanne's two-out double to left center scored Matt Wilkerson who had doubled earlier in the inning. McCanne had been robbed of an extra base hit two innings earlier when Aztec center fielder Anthony Gwynn made a spectacular diving catch of his blast to left center.
SDSU extended its lead to 4-1 in the seventh without the benefit of a hit. Leadoff hitter Chad Corona was hit by pitch, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on Anthony Gwynn's fielder's choice after pinch hitter Curt Mendoza walked.
However, the Gauchos countered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning off reliever Chris Hartshorn. Center fielder Matt Emerick led off with a solo home run to right field. Catcher Chad Ziemendorf was then hit by pitch, went to second on a ground out and took third on a balk. Two batters later, pinch hitter Matt Stevens hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Ziemendorf and pull the Gauchos to within a run at 4-3.
The Aztecs restored their two-run advantage in the eighth when Rielly Embrey singled home Peter Stonard with two outs. Stonard had walked to open the inning, then advanced on a grounder to first and a fly ball to right. SDSU added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single by Guerrero to score pinch runner David Hall from second.
Will Miller pitched the final inning for SDSU to pick up his first save of the year. Anthony Gwynn ended his day with a pair of hits including a double, RBI and run scored while James Guerrero had two hits including a triple and three RBI. First baseman Rielly Embrey also contributed a pair of hits and an RBI to the winning cause.
San Diego State will now have eight days off as it awaits its 2003 home opener against 25th-ranked South Alabama on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 3:00p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
San Diego State 6, UC Santa Barbara 3SDSU 003 000 111 - 6 7 0UCSB 000 100 200 - 3 7 2Lindsey, Hartshorn (6), Harang (7) and SwaydanPosthumus, Ramirez (7), McRobbie (8) and ZiemendorfW - Lindsey (1-1)L - Posthumus (0-1)Sv - Miller (1)HR - UCSB: Emerick (7th-none on)Att. - 575Time - 3:12