March 19, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The University of Utah used the long ball Saturday afternoon as three home runs accounted for all its runs in a 4-2 win over San Diego State at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The victory ended a four-game slide for the Utes who improved to 7-12 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference. SDSU, meanwhile, dropped to 6-17 on the year (1-1 MWC).
The Aztecs opened the contest with a run in the first on a double by leadoff hitter Quintin Berry and an RBI ground out by James Guerrero. SDSU starting pitcher Alex Hinshaw (1-5) made the one run stand up for four innings before being hit hard in the fifth.
Ute catcher Adam Frank began that inning with a solo homer to left field to knot the score at 1-1. One out later, center fielder John Welsh doubled to left center, and that hit was followed by another Utah home run to left, this time off the bat of shortstop Ryan Khoury to make it a 3-1 game.
The visitors added a run on the seventh on their third homer of the afternoon, this one a solo shot by third baseman Doug Beck.
San Diego State rallied for a run in the bottom of the same inning on a pair of infield hits and three Ute errors, but that's as closes as they would come as reliever Josh Cooper went the final two innings to record his second save of the season.
After allowing the run in the opening frame, Utah starter Matt Crockett had held the Aztec offense in check over the next five innings, including retiring 10 of 11 batters he faced from the third through sixth innings. Crockett went 6.2 innings, allowing both SDSU runs (one earned) on eight hits to improve to 2-4.
SDSU center fielder Quintin Berry led the Aztecs with three hits on the day and scored one of the SDSU's two runs while outfielder Jake McLintock chipped in with a pair of singles.
Utah and San Diego State conclude their three-game league series on Sunday (Mar. 20) at noon. The game was originally scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start, but has been moved up one hour to accommodate the Utes' travel plans.
Utah 4, San Diego State 2Utah 000 030 100 - 4 11 4SDSU 100 000 100 - 2 10 1Crockett, Bailey (7), Cooper (8) and Frank, Eastman (9)Hinshaw, Douglas (5) and SwaydanW - Crockett (2-4)L - Hinshaw (1-5)Sv - Cooper (2)HR - SDS: Frank (1), Beck (1), Khoury (2)Time - 3:01Att. - 651