May 15, 2003
San Diego - San Diego State opened the game with five straight hits and scored six times in its first at bat Thursday night as it went on to a 7-5 victory over New Mexico at Tony Gwynn Stadium. With the win, the Aztecs (24-30 overall) improved to 16-12 in the Mountain West Conference to move to within a game of the third-place Lobos (34-22; 17-11 MWC).
SDSU got singles in the first from leadoff hitter Landon Burt and shortstop James Guerrero to put runners at first and third. Anthony Gwynn and Garrett Cook followed with RBI singles to give the home team a 2-0 lead. Rielly Embrey's double then made it a three-run advantage for San Diego State, and Jake McLintock's sacrifice fly accounted for the fourth run. The Aztecs capped off the inning with a two-run homer off the bat of catcher Josh Allen.
After the visitors scored an unearned run in the second on an RBI single by Sean Murray, SDSU responded in the third with a triple by McLintock and double by Allen to take a 7-1 lead.
From that point on, UNM starting pitcher James Vermilyea was effective in shutting down the Aztec offense. From the fourth through the seventh innings, he retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced, allowing only two-out singles in the sixth and seventh.
San Diego State's Mike Moat also pitched well over the middle innings, retiring10 straight batters before being touched up for a run in the sixth on a two-out RBI single by Joe Salas. Moat pitched into the eighth, but began to tire and was charged with three more runs (two earned) before Drew Jenson came on to finish out the game and preserve SDSU's 7-5 lead.
Moat picked up the win to move to improve to 6-5 on the year while Jenson recorded his fourth save of the season. Vermilyea, who pitched well after a shaky first inning, took the loss to fall to 7-3.
San Diego State's Josh Allen finished the game with a pair of hits and three RBI while teammates Anthony Gwynn and Garrett Cook also had two hits apiece. For the Lobos, Joe Salas had three hits (including a double) while Sean Murray knocked in three runs with a single and double.
The Aztecs and Lobos conclude their 2003 regular seasons with a doubleheader on Friday (May 16) at Tony Gwynn Stadium beginning at 1:00 p.m. (PDT). The third game of the series was originally slated to be played on Saturday (May 18), but graduation ceremonies at SDSU's stadium preclude the teams from using the facility that day.
Both games of Friday's twin bill may be heard live on the Internet beginning with Alan Horton's pregame show starting at 12:50 p.m. (PDT).
San Diego State 7, New Mexico 5UNM 010 001 030 - 5 13 0SDS 601 000 00x - 7 11 2Vermilyea, Smith (8) and Grady, Spitaleri (6)Moat, Jenson (8) and AllenW - Moat (6-5)L - Vermilyea (7-3)Sv- Jenson (4)HR - SDS: Allen (1st-one on)Att. - 555Time - 2:44