May 23, 2003
Albuquerque, N.M. - After being limited to four hits earlier in the day, San Diego State unleashed a 17-hit attack as it defeated Brigham Young, 15-7, at the Mountain West Conference Tournament at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque. The Aztecs improved their record to 29-31 on the year while Brigham Young ended its season at 30-24. With the win, SDSU moves into Saturday's championship game against 18th-ranked UNLV at 3:00 p.m. (MDT). Should the Aztecs win that contest, a second game would be played at 7:00 p.m.
After falling behind by a run in the first, San Diego State answered with four runs in its half of the first on a two-run double by Josh Allen and two-RBI single by Curt Mendoza. Allen finished the night with a single, double and triple while Mendoza collected three hits.
The Aztecs' lead was short-lived, however, as the Cougars scored four of their own in the second to take a 5-4 lead.
Not to be outdone, SDSU sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven times in its half of the third. Garrett Cook led off the frame with a solo home run and also had a two-run double later in the inning. He added another run-scoring double in the Aztecs' two-run seventh inning.
Junior left-hander Daryl Harang (1-1) went the six innings on the mound for the Aztecs to record his first win of the season in his third start of the year. Senior Ben Leuthard tossed the final three innings to pick up his first save. BYU's Clay Barnes, who gave up SDSU's first 11 runs, was tagged with the loss as his record fell to 1-1 on the year.
In addition to Cook, Allen and Mendoza, freshman catcher Jordan Swaydan also had three hits, including a double and two RBIs. Anthony Gwynn also continued his hot hitting with a pair of singles and two runs scored. Eight of SDSU's nine starter reached safely at least once.
Saturday's SDSU-UNLV game can be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton calling the play-by-play. The pre-game show begins 10 minutes prior to game time.
San Diego State 15, Brigham Young 7BYU 140 020 000 - 7 13 1SDS 407 200 20x - 15 17 1Barnes, Heid (3), Chrisman (6) and Cloward, Weingarten (7)Harang, Leuthard (7) and SwaydanW - Harang (1-1)L - Barnes (1-1)Sv - Leuthard (1)HR - SDS: Cook (3rd-none on)Att. - 122Time: 2:43