April 24, 2004
SAN DIEGO - Jared Pena's single in the top of the ninth drove home the winning run as Utah defeated San Diego State, 7-6, Saturday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The victory ended a five-game losing streak for the Utes, who improved to 11-23 overall and 4-10 in the Mountain West Conference. SDSU, meanwhile, came up short in its bid to reach the .500 mark as it saw its record fall to 21-23 (10-5 MWC).
For the second day in a row, Utah got on the board early, this time with three runs in the first. Two of those runs came on Jared Pena's two-run homer to left, his fourth of the year.
The Aztecs countered with a run in the second, courtesy of Jordan Swaydan's second home run of the season. They knotted the score at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the third, getting RBIs from Lance Zawadzki and Kyle Floquet.
San Diego State took its first lead of the day with two more runs in the sixth on Josh Hill's RBI fielder's and a run-scoring single by Landon Burt. That 5-3 advantage was short-lived as the Utes got to relievers Joey Pace and Dan Bruckart for three runs in the next frame to establish a 6-5 lead.
The Aztecs waited until the eighth inning to re-tie the game at six apiece on a one-out double by Zawadzki and RBI single by Floquet.
That set the stage for Pena's game-winning hit in the final frame. His single brought home teammate Eric Chevalier, who had doubled with one out. That run allowed Utah reliever Ben Buck to pick up the win to even his record at 2-2.
SDSU threatened in its final at bat, putting runners on first and second with one out before Ute closer Clay Westmoreland got a double play to secure the win and pick up his fifth save.
SDSU freshman right-hander J.T. Zink, who went the final 2.1 innings, saw his record fall to 0-1. The loss wasted a good pitching performance by starter Daryl Harang, who went the first five innings, striking out nine Utes along the way.
Utah and San Diego State will play the rubber game of their series on Sunday (April 25) at noon at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Utah 7, San Diego State 6Utah 300 000 301 - 7 15 0SDSU 010 202 010 - 6 8 0Mackay, McCord (5), Kohn (6), Buck (8), Westmoreland (9) and SchliemanHarang, Pace (6), Bruckart (7), Zink (7) and SwaydanW - Buck (2-2)L - Zink (0-1)Sv - Westmoreland (5)HR - Utah: Pena (4) SDSU: Swaydan (2)Att. - 368Time - 3:07