May 12, 2006
PROVO, Utah - Brigham Young spotted San Diego State an early two-run advantage, then scored nine unanswered runs on the way to a 12-3 win over the Aztecs Friday evening at Larry H. Miller Field. With the win, the Cougars moved to within a half game of SDSU for second place in the Mountain West Conference standings.
The loss was the third in a row for the Aztecs, who fell to 20-34 overall and 13-8 in league play. BYU, meanwhile, moved over the .500 mark on the season at 26-25 while improving to 11-7 in the MWC.
After starting the game with a pair of singles by Quintin Berry and Lance Zawadzki, but coming up empty on the scoreboard, San Diego State did open the scoring in the top of the second on Curt Mendoza's seventh home run of the season, a solo shot to center field. It added another run in the same inning as Joey Huskins was hit by pitch, advanced to third on a single by Jordan Swaydan, and scored on a safety squeeze sacrifice bunt by Quintin Berry.
The 2-0 lead didn't last long as the Aztecs gifted BYU a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the frame as shortstop Lance Zawadzki booted a potential double play ball with runners on first and second, then threw it into the Aztec dugout.
After giving up the two runs in the top of the second, Cougar starting pitcher Jesse Craig shut down the SDSU offense over the next six innings, scattering eight hits and allowing one late run. He struck out six and walked none while evening his record at 6-6.
Brigham Young took the lead with a run in the fourth on a RBI single by third baseman Blake Crosby, then added three more in the fifth to make it a 6-2 contest. SDSU starting hurler Lance Sewell departed game after going 4.2 innings and giving up the six runs, only three of which were earned, as he fell to 1-2.
The Aztecs had a golden opportunity to get back into the game in the top of the sixth, loading the bases with no outs on consecutive singles by Brock Ungricht, Nick Romero and Curt Mendoza, But BYU's Craig was able to get out of the jam with no damage, and his team padded its lead in the bottom of the inning on a three-run homer by Marcos Villezcas, his first of the season.
SDSU got a late consolation run in the seventh on a triple by Berry and a wild pitch by Craig. However, the home side answered that with three more runs in the bottom of the inning off reliever Charles Nolte to account for the final 12-3 score line.
Aztec outfielder Curt Mendoza ended the night with three hits to lead SDSU while Berry and Nick Romero had two hits apiece.
SDSU and BYU will conclude their three-game series on Saturday (May 13) at 1:00 p.m. (MDT).
Brigham Young 12, San Diego State 2SDS 020 000 100 - 3 11 2 BYU 020 133 03x - 12 12 0 Craig, Andrews (9) and Nelson Sewell, Koons (5), Nolte (7), Suwyn (8) and Swaydan W - Craig (6-6) L - Sewell (1-2) Sv - None HR - SDS: Mendoza-7 (2nd-none on) BYU: Villezcas-1 (6th-two on) Att. - 1,633 Time - 3:02