April 22, 2006
LAS VEGAS - San Diego State a second straight excellent outing from freshman Lance Sewell and some timely hitting as it defeated UNLV, 8-6, Saturday afternoon at Earl E. Wilson Stadium. The win improved the Aztecs to 14-28 on the year and 7-5 in the Mountain West Conference. The loss dropped the Rebels to 17-23 (4-8 MWC).
In a city known for its glitzy shows, Sewell proved himself an equal to Houdini as he worked out of a trio of jams over the third through fifth innings, stranding seven UNLV base runners over that span while allowing just one run.
San Diego State opened the scoring in the third as Nick Romero's two-out double to deep center field scored Chris Anderson from first base. Anderson, the Aztec DH for the day, had walked to open the inning.
UNLV countered with a run off Sewell in the fifth to knot the score at 1-1. Center fielder Ryan Kowalski led off with a walk, but appeared to be picked off when he took off for second early and Sewell tossed the ball to first. However, Brock Ungricht's throw to second was high and Kowalski was safe.
That throw proved costly as Keith Smith's two-out single brought home the run. UNLV went on to load the bases with two out, but Sewell struck out Zach Borba looking to retire the side.
The Aztecs wasted little time in regaining the lead, striking for three in the next inning. Consecutive singes by Quintin Berry and Nick Romero were followed by an RBI double by Paul Smyth to score Berry from second. SDSU eventually loaded the bases with two outs before Jordan Swaydan hit a two-run single up the middle off Rebel reliever Ryan Tabor, who had just come on in relief of starter Kevin Skogley.
In the bottom of the inning, Sewell was touched up for an unearned run before leaving the contests in favor of reliever Mike Koons. Sewell finished his day going 5.1 innings, allowing a pair of runs (one earned) while striking out seven.
San Diego State opened up an 8-2 lead in the eighth, scoring four times off a trio of Rebel relievers. In the innings, SDSU got RBI singles from Curt Mendoza and Chris Anderson plus a two-run triple from Lance Zawadzki.
Those runs proved to be important as the home side scored four of its own off Coons to make it an 8-6 contest before freshman Mark Triolo came on to get the final out of the inning. Triolo the faced four batters in the ninth, striking out two and getting the final out on a line drive to shortstop Nick Romero.
Romero ended his afternoon with three hits, an RBI and run scored while teammates Berry and Mendoza had two hits apiece. In addition, Jordan Swaydan and Lance Zawadzki accounted for half of the Aztecs' RBI with two each.
San Diego State and UNLV conclude their three-game series on Sunday (April 23) at 1:00 p.m.
SDSU 001 003 040 - 8 12 1UNLV 000 011 040 - 6 14 0Sewell, Koons (6), Triolo (8) and SwaydanSkogley, Tabor (6), Chalfant (8), Brock (8) and BrenlyW - Sewell (1-1)L- Triolo (1)Sv - Skogley (1-6)HR - UNLV: Cruz-5 (8th-none on)Att. - 507Time - 3:26