March 2, 2007
STOCKTON, Calif. - San Diego State made it two in a row over the University of the Pacific as it defeated the Tigers, 6-2, Friday afternoon at Klein Family Field in Stockton. The win came on the first day of the Pacific State Bank Tiger Classic being hosted by UOP this weekend. With the win, SDSU moved its record to 10-7 while Pacific fell to 4-11.
Aztec starting pitcher Donnie Hume was in control on the mound as he tossed six innings, allowing two unearned runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Hume improved his record to 3-2 while lowering his earned run average to 2.59.
San Diego State got on the board early as it scored a pair of runs off Tiger starter Joey Centanni (0-4) in the second inning. Brian Lucas led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Frank LoNigro. With two outs, freshman DH Matt Parker, in his first collegiate at bat, blooped a single to center to drive in Lucas. A walk to Pat Colwell set the stage for an RBI single by shortstop Troy Hanzawa to make it a 2-0 ball game.
The Aztecs added to their lead with one swing of the bat in the third inning as Nick Romero led off by hitting a towering home run to left, his second of the season.
Pacific got back into the contest with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the third. A fielding error and a dropped pop fly in the infield set the stage for an RBI ground out by Justin Baum and an RBI single by Centanni, who was the Tigers' DH in the contest.
The score remained 3-2 in favor of SDSU until it was able to push across a pair of runs in its half of the seventh. With two outs in the inning, a Lucas single to left was followed by a double to the same field by LoNigro. Second baseman Garett Green then laced a 2-2 pitch down the left field line to bring home both runners and give the Aztecs a 5-2 cushion.
The visitors tacked on another run in the next frame on a walk to Cameron Johnson, a wild pitch, a ground out and an RBI sacrifice fly by Brandon Glover.
As was the case in SDSU's win on Thursday, the relief threesome of Shane Kaufman, Aaron Brady and Stephen Strasburg each tossed one of the final three innings to preserve the win.
For San Diego State, Lucas, Romero and Johnson finished with two hits apiece while five different players were credited with at least one run batted in.
The Aztecs continue tournament play Saturday morning at they take on the University of San Francisco at 10:00 a.m. (PST). Earlier Friday, USF dropped a 5-4 decision to Baylor in the opening round of Classic play.