March 29, 2008
SAN DIEGO - In a game that turned into a roller coaster ride over the final three innings, San Diego State came from behind to defeat Houston, 7-6, Saturday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. It was a contest that saw SDSU rally late to tie and go ahead, fall behind in the top of the ninth, then score twice in its final at bat to win for the fifth straight time. In the process, the Aztecs improved to 16-10 while the Cougars dropped their second game of the weekend series to fall to 16-9.
Over the first six innings, Houston and its starting pitcher, freshman lefty Ty Stuckey, were in control of the game. The Cougars built a 4-0 lead on a solo homer by Blake Kelso and an RBI single by Bryan Pounds in the second, a run-scoring double by Jake Stewart in the fifth, and a sacrifice fly by Chris Wallace in the sixth. Those runs came off SDSU starter Nate Solow, who struck out eight over his 5.1 innings of work but gave up the four runs (three earned) on five hits.
Stuckey, meanwhile, was brilliant on the mound, limiting San Diego State to just one hit over the first six frames, a single by Garett Green in the fourth. The Aztecs had a chance in that fourth inning when they loaded the bases with the hit and a pair of walks, but Stuckey worked out of the jam. He went on to retire the side in order in both the fifth and sixth innings.
It all began to unravel for the Cougars in the bottom of the seventh when SDSU rallied for four runs to tie the game. A leadoff home run by T.J. Thomas followed by a single by Brandon Glover ended Stuckey's afternoon. Reliever Bryan Tully, who had started the contest in right field, was summoned to pitch. The Aztecs promptly put together a walk and two singles plus an RBI ground out to make it a 4-4 game. Erik Castro, Troy Hanzawa and Nick Romero drove in one run apiece in the frame.
Sensing a change in momentum, SDSU took the lead in the bottom of the eighth on a walk to Glover, single by Brett Tanos and a run-scoring single to right by Castro. With a 5-4 lead and their closer on the hill in the person of Addison Reed, the Aztecs looked to close out the contest in the ninth, but the visitors had other ideas.
UH pinch hitter Felix Fanaselle opened the inning with a walk. After striking out the next two hitters, Reed then gave up a two-run homer to left center by Jake Stewart that put the Cougars back in the lead at 6-5. Following the homer, a single and two walks loaded the bases, but SDSU brought on senior Brandon Pullen to get the final out and keep the deficit at one run.
In the bottom of the final frame Houston reliever John Touchton was greeted by a hit to left field by Troy Hanzawa that the senior shortstop legged out for a double. Two batters later, Green delivered an RBI single to left to bring Hanzawa home and tie the game at 6-6. After Cory Vaughn was hit by pitch and Thomas drew a walk to load the bases, Glover hit a hard shot that got through the drawn-in Cougar infield to bring home Green with the winning run.
Pullen (1-0), who had pitched to the final batter in the top of the ninth, was the beneficiary of his teammate's rally as he picked up his first win of the year. Touchton was charged with the loss to even his record at 2-2.
Green, Castro and Glover had two hits apiece to pace the SDSU offense. Castro accounted for two runs batted in while Glover scored a pair of runs and drove in one. The Aztec pitching threesome of Solow, Reed and Pullen struck out a total of 11 Houston batters marking the fourth time in the past five games that the SDSU mound corps has reached double figure in strikeouts.
Houston and San Diego State will conclude their three-game weekend series with a single game on Sunday, March 30, at 1:00 p.m. (PDT) at Tony Gwynn Stadium.