March 24, 2006
SAN DIEGO - A pair of home runs in the late innings helped Pacific defeat San Diego State, 7-2, Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. With the loss, SDSU's losing streak now sits at 11 games.
With the game tied at two in the eighth inning, designated hitter Matt Berezay belted a two-run homer over the right field wall to break the tie. In the following inning, third baseman Justin Baum blasted one over the left field wall for a three-run homer that sealed the deal for the Tigers.
SDSU (6-21) suffered the loss despite another strong showing by starting pitcher Justin Masterson. The junior threw seven complete, allowing two runs on four hits and striking out five. His counterpart, Luke Massetti, had an equally stellar performance. The starter for the Tigers threw eight complete, giving up two runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts. Massetti (3-2) earned the win, while Masterson got a no decision. The loss went to sophomore Mike Koons (2-4). In Koon's inning and a third of work, he allowed four runs on three hits.
Pacific (14-7) got on the board first in the second inning. Left fielder Jake Ross grounded into a double play that scored right fielder Ramon Glasgow. In the fourth inning, Ross brought home Pacific's second run of the game with an RBI groundout that scored Berezay.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Aztecs tied the game at two. Following a single from first baseman Brock Ungricht, junior Lance Zawadzki slapped a triple into the right center field gap to score Ungricht from first. Zawadzki would tie the game at two from a sacrifice fly off the bat of left fielder Paul Smyth.
Smyth and center fielder Quintin Berry were the only two Aztecs to have multi-hit games. Berry finished 2-for-4, while Smyth went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The contest remained knotted at two until Berezay's home run in the eighth inning.
Game two of the three-game series will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.