Feb. 20, 2004
Los Angeles - Notre Dame first baseman Matt Edwards drove in four runs and four Fighting Irish pitchers allowed just five hits in defeating San Diego State, 7-1, Friday afternoon at USC's Dedeaux Field. The contest was the opening game of the Public Storage Baseball Classic being hosted by the Trojans this weekend.
The game was the season opener for Notre Dame, which came into the week ranked as high as 10th in the nation (by Collegiate Baseball. The loss dropped San Diego State's record to 6-9 on the year.
Irish first baseman Mike Edwards inflicted most of the damage on the Aztecs, accounting for his team's first four RBIs with a two-run homer in the first and a two-run single in the fifth.
The Aztecs' lone run in the game came in the second inning when Jake McLintock's single to right scored Jordan Swaydan from second base. Swaydan had opened the inning by being hit by pitch and advancing to second on a wild pitch.
SDSU was limited to five hits on the afternoon as four Notre Dame pitchers combined to strike out a dozen Aztec batters. Starter Chris Niesel, a second-team All-American for the Irish last season, recorded nine strikeouts himself over 5.2 innings as he picked up the win.
Aztec starter Scott Shoemaker took the loss to fall to 1-3, pitching well but receiving little support on the offensive side. The senior from San Diego gave up four runs and struck out nine before leaving the game after six innings.
San Diego State continues play at the Public Storage Classic on Saturday when it will face Louisville. Due to impending weather conditions, that game (originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m.) been moved up to 11:00 a.m. As a result of the time change, the game will not be carried live on The Mighty 1090 in San Diego as previously announce due to conflicts with the programming schedule.
The SDSU-Louisville contest can be still heard live on the Internet at the SDSU web site (www.goaztec.com) with Alan Horton calling the action.
Notre Dame 7, San Diego State 1SDS 010 000 000 - 1 5 0ND 200 020 12x - 7 11 0Shoemaker, Billings (7), Bruckart (8), Zink (8) and Swaydan, Coulter (7)Niesel, Thaman (6), Johnson (7), Jones (9) and SanchezW - Niesel (1-0)L - Shoemaker (1-3)Sv - NoneHR - ND: Edwards (1st-one on)Att. - 200Time - 2:55