April 19, 2003
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Salt Lake City - Chad Corona's three-run homer in the top of the ninth capped a five-run rally as San Diego State came back to defeat Utah, 10-9, in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader at Franklin Covey Field in Salt Lake City. The Aztecs completed a sweep of the twin bill after downing the Utes, 5-3, earlier in the day.
With the wins, SDSU improved to 18-23 on the season and 11-7 in the Mountain West Conference, tied for second place with Brigham Young. The loss dropped the Utes to 18-20 overall and 6-11 in league play.
Corona's heroics came in a game of twists and turns that saw SDSU lose a lead before snatching victory at the wire. In a contest in which freshman Ronnie Lindsey held the Ute offense in check through his five innings of work, the Aztecs enjoyed a 5-1 lead after six innings behind the hitting of Josh Allen, who had a two-run homer in the first inning along with two other hits in the contest. Allen hit for the cycle on the day, with a double in the first game and a single, triple and home run in the nightcap.
The Aztec lead evaporated when the Utes touched up senior Erick Eigenhuis, who had come on for Lindsey in the sixth, for four runs in the seventh to tie the game at 5-5. They then added three more in the next inning to take an 8-5 lead into the final frame.
Utah junior reliever Sean Overholt, looking for his first career victory as a Ute, had cruised through the seventh and eighth innings. But he opened the ninth with a walk to Jordan Swaydan and back-to-back singles by Anthony Gwynn and Landon Burt to make it an 8-6 game before departing with runners on first and third.
Derek Larsen was called upon to put the game away, and got the first out of the inning when Garrett Cook flew out to right. He then proceeded to walk Allen to load the bases and bring Jason Price out of the bullpen. Price retired pinch hitter Jon Stephens for the second out on a sac fly to left that scored Gwynn from third.
That set the stage for Corona's dramatic hit. The junior from Carlsbad fouled of six pitches with a 1-2 count before depositing an inside fastball over the left field fence to give the Aztecs a 10-8 lead.
However, the drama was far from over as Utah rallied for a run in the bottom of the inning off Drew Jenson before the junior lefty got the third out when Matt Ciaramella flied out to left with the tying run at third.
Will Miller (1-3) picked up the win for SDSU while Jenson recorded his third save of the year and second of the day. In addition to Allen, Anthony Gwynn had three hits for the Aztecs while Landon Burt had a single, double and three runs batted in.
In game one, the Aztecs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a two-out RBI triple to center field by Kyle Floquet that brought home Garrett Cook from first. That was followed by a double off the bat of Ryan Wilson to score Floquet.
The Utes came back in their half of the inning on a solo homer by designated hitter Brett Sundberg
SDSU upped its lead to 3-1 on an RBI single by Landon Burt in the sixth, and added two more in the top of the seventh on Burt's RBI double and a fielding error by third baseman Mike Westfall.
San Diego State starter Joe Carque (4-2) allowed two runs over 6.2 innings, scattering nine hits to pick up the win. Drew Jenson, who went the final 2.1 innings in relief, picked up his second save of the season. Ute starter Doug Mackay took the loss as his record fell to 4-3.
Up next for the Aztecs is a game at University of San Diego on Tuesday (April 22) at 3:00 p.m. That contest may be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton's pregame show starting 10 minutes before game time.
Game 1San Diego State 5, Utah 3SDSU 020 010 200 - 5 9 0Utah 010 000 110 - 3 11 1Carque, Jenson (7) and AllenMackay, Price (7) and UdyW - Carque (4-2)L - Mackay (4-3)Sv - Jenson (2)HR - Utah: Sundberg (2nd-none on)Time - 2:51
Game 2San Diego State 10, Utah 9SDSU 301 100 005 - 10 13 2Utah 100 000 431 - 9 16 0Lindsey, Eigenhuis (6), Harang (7), Miller (8), Jenson (9) and SwaydanMartinez, Overholt (6), Larsen (9), Price (9) and UdyW - Miller (1-3)L - Larsen (3-3)Sv - Jenson (3)HR - SDSU: Allen (1st-one on) Utah: Ciaramella (7th-one on) SDSU: Corona (9th-two on)Att - 292Time - 3:31