March 8, 2003
Irvine - San Diego State fell behind early and was unable to recover as it fell to UC Irvine, 7-2, at Anteater Ballpark Saturday evening. The Aztecs conceded five runs over the first four innings and were held in check offensively for the majority of the game by the UCI starter Brett Smith and relievers Chris Nicoll and Paul French. SDSU was limited to five hits on the night, four of the extra-base variety (two double, two triples).
The loss was the fifth straight for San Diego (6-14) which has won only once in its last 10 outings. Irvine improved its record to 6-11 on the season.
After the Anteaters scored three times in the second, SDSU squandered a chance to get close in the fourth. Left fielder Kyle Floquet was hit by pitch to lead off the inning, but was promptly picked of by Smith. Peter Stonard followed with a bases-loaded triple, but was left stranded when neither of the next two hitters could bring him home.
UCI added a pair of runs in their half of the fourth to make it 5-0 before SDSU finally broke through with two of its own in the fifth. A leadoff walk to Jake McLintock was followed by an RBI triple to right by James Guerrero, who in turn scored on Landon Burt's sacrifice fly to left to make it 5-2.
The Anteaters regained their five-run lead in their half of the fifth. After Jordan Szabo led off with a home run to left, first baseman Matt Falk single, stole second, was sacrificed to third, and scored on a passed ball to give UCI a 7-2 advantage.
UCI starter Brett Smith (3-1), who pitched 5.2 innings while allowing two runs on four hits, picked up his first win of the year. Joe Carque took the loss for SDSU to fall to 1-2 on the season. Aztec freshman Ronnie Lindsey went the final four innings, allowing two hits and striking out four.
The Aztecs and Anteaters conclude their three-game series on Sunday (March 9) when the action returns to Tony Gwynn Stadium for a 1:00 p.m. start. That contest can be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton's pregame show starting at 12:50 p.m. (PST)
UC Irvine x, San Diego State xSDS 000 020 000 - 2 5 1UCI 030 220 00x - 7 11 0Carque, Lindsey (5) and AllenSmith, Nicoll (6), French (9) and WagnerW - Smith (3-1)L - Carque (1-2)Sv - NoneHR - UCI: Falk (5th none on)Att. - 732Time - 3:10