April 3, 2003
San Diego - Despite being held to just four hits on the night, San Diego State used solid pitching and timely defense to defeat Brigham Young, 2-1, Friday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. With the win, SDSU improved to 14-18 on the year and 7-3 in conference play to move within a half-game of co-leaders UNLV and New Mexico. The loss dropped the Cougars' record to 12-15 overall and an even 5-5 in the Mountain West Conference.
The Aztec victory spoiled the complete-game pitching performance of BYU's Jeff Mousser, who walked two and struck out six in the four-hitter, but saw his record fall to 3-3 on the year. As good as Mousser was, he was equaled if not bettered by SDSU's starter Mike Moat and reliever Drew Jenson.
Moat improved his record to 3-3 on the season, going 7.1 strong innings and giving up an unearned run on eight hits with no walks. Jenson notched his first save of the season, pitching the final 1.2 innings and allowing one hit while striking out three.
Although the pitching played a large part in the contest, it was the Aztec defense that came up with some big plays when needed. Second baseman Peter Stonard and third baseman Chad Corona both made diving grabs of line drives to rob the Cougars of hits. In addition, Moat was helped out of a first-and-third jam in the fourth with a double play, one of three turned in by SDSU on the night.
San Diego State opened the scoring with a run in the first inning that began with a leadoff bunt single by Anthony Gwynn. A walk to Landon Burt set the stage for a double steal to put runners on second and third. Gwynn then scored on Peter Stonard's ground out to shortstop.
The Aztecs doubled their lead in the seventh, thanks to first baseman Rielly Embrey. His two-out blast not only cleared the fence in right field with ease, it landed on top of the racquetball courts beyond the right field wall.
Brigham Young climbed back into the game in their half of the eighth scoring an unearned run when Rob Itri reached on an error and advanced to second on a one-out single by Wade Vest. Left fielder Doug Jackson then singled off Moat to drive in Itri and bring on Jenson in relief. The junior left-hander retired five of the six Cougar batters he faced, striking out three along the way.
San Diego State's four hits on the night came at the hands of two players as Embrey and Gwynn had two apiece. In addition to his homer, Embrey had a double to deep center field while Gwynn had a single in the eighth.
The Aztecs and Cougars continue their three-game series on Friday night (April 4) at Tony Gwynn Stadium with game time set for 6:00 p.m. (PST). The game can be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton's pregame show starting 10 minutes before game time.
San Diego State 2, Brigham Young 1BYU 000 000 010 - 1 9 0SDS 100 000 10x - 2 4 1Moat, Jenson (8) and SwaydanMousser and Wilkes, Cloward (6)W - Moat (3-3)L - Mousser (3-3)Sv - Jenson (1)HR - SDS: Embrey (7th-none on)Att. - 570Time - 2:21