April 5, 2003
San Diego - Peter Stonard's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th ended a seesaw contest and handed San Diego State a 4-3 win over Brigham Young Saturday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Stonard's heroics were only made possible by pinch hitter Rielly Embrey's home run in the bottom of the ninth that sent the game to extra innings.
With the win, SDSU improved to 15-19 on the season and 8-4 in the Mountain West Conference. BYU meanwhile fell to 13-16 overall and an even 6-6 in league play.
The Aztecs opened the scoring with a run in the first as Jake McLintock singled home James Guerrero, who had reached on an error by Cougar third baseman Kainoa Obrey. Peters Stonard's single sent Guerrero to third, and he scored on McLintock's hit to right.
San Diego State doubled its lead in the fifth when freshman designated hitter Curt Mendoza hit a home run to dead center field that traveled some 430 feet.
Meanwhile, Aztec starting pitcher Joe Carque was holding the BYU bats in check. Through the first seven innings, the senior right-hander scattered three hits and struck out five. At one point he retired 16 of 17 batters he faced, and only two Cougar base runners advanced as far as second base.
However, Carque began to tire in the eighth as Brigham Young put a pair of runners on with no outs. Second baseman Wade Vest reached on an error and went to second on a single by center fielder Doug Jackson.
SDSU reliever Daryl Harang then came on and uncorked a wild pitch to move both runners up a base. The wild pitch proved of little consequence as Ryan Chambers then hit a home run over the right field fence to give BYU a 3-2 lead.
Cougar reliever Jason Garcia, who had come in the eighth and retired the side in order, opened the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout before Rielly Embrey hit his second homer of the series to knot the score at 3-3.
With Ronnie Lindsey on to pitch for SDSU in the 10th, BYU opened the inning with a pair of singles to put runners on the corners with no out. After Lindsey struck out Chambers for the first out, Cougar shortstop Ranger Wiens hit a hard ground to third that Chad Corona corralled and turned into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the 10th, Anthony Gwynn led off with a double off the right center field wall. Kyle Floquet's sacrifice bunt attempt hit the dirt in front of home plate and bounced over the head of a charging BYU first baseman Tim Law for a single. A walk to James Guerrero set the stage for Stonard's game winning hit that helped Lindsey even his record at 2-2 on the season. BYU's Jason Garcia took the loss to fall to 0-4 on the year.
Up next for San Diego State is a three-game series against MWC foe New Mexico beginning Friday (April 11) at 2:00 p.m. at Lobo Field in Albuquerque. It will be the first of three consecutive weekends on the road in conference play for the Aztecs.
San Diego State 4, Brigham Young 3 (10 inn.)BYU 000 000 030 0 - 3 8 2SDS 100 010 001 1 - 4 12 1Carque, Harang (8), Lindsey (8) and SwaydanGravley, Garcia (8), Dabo (10) and Cloward, Wilkes (8)W - Lindsey (2-2)L - Garcia (0-4)Sv - NoneHR - BYU: Chambers (8th-two on) SDS: Mendoza (5th-none on) SDS: Embrey (9th-none on)Att. - 603Time - 2:45