May 1, 2007
SAN DIEGO - UC Riverside went deep three times to account for five runs in a 7-1 win over San Diego State Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The loss was the fifth in a row for the Aztecs, who saw their record fall to 27-22. The Highlanders, ranked 25th in the nation this week by Baseball America, moved to 28-16 on the year.
Home runs aside, strikeouts were the order of the evening as four UCR hurlers struck out 13 Aztec hitters while SDSU pitchers fanned 12 Riverside batters.
The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a single by Mike Vass, a walk to Kyle Barratt and an RBI single by Jeff Dunbar.
SDSU answered right back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning as Brandon Glover reached on an error, went to third on Garett Green's single and scored on a two-out base hit by Pat Colwell. From that point on, it was all Riverside as far as offense was concerned.
The home run onslaught began in the third as Joey Gonzales hit a solo shot, the first of the season for the Highlander freshman. In the fourth, Vass connected for a two run blast to make it a 4-1 contest. One inning later, it was Aaron Wible joining the hit parade with a two-run shot to give the Highlanders a 6-1 advantage.
Five of those first six UCR runs came at the expense of SDSU starter Charles Nolte, who pitched into the fifth inning before being relieved by Brandon Pullen. Nolte, who gave up the first two homers, also struck out five but came away with the loss to fall to 0-2. Pullen entered the game with a runner on first and no outs, managing to retire the first two batters he faced before giving up Wible's shot to left.
San Diego State got at least one hit in seven of the nine innings, but only threatened one other time after scoring in the second. That came in the fourth when a walk to Glover and single by Green put men at first and third with one out. But Highlander starter Stephen Penney struck out Brian Lucas before Pat Colwell's sharp line drive was snagged by Riverside second baseman Ben Price to retire the side. Penney, who went four innings, recorded the win to improve to 4-2.
Green, along with shortstop Troy Hanzawa,left fielder Frank LoNigro and right fielder Pat Colwell had two hits apiece to account for all eight of ther team's hits on the night. LoNigro had SDSU's only extra-base hit of the game, a one-out double in the seventh, but he was stranded at second base.
San Diego State now returns to Mountain West Conference action as it hosts UNLV for a three-game series that gets underway on Friday, May 4, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.