March 4, 2008
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Brandon Glover's two-run double in the top of the ninth drove in the tying and winning runs as San Diego State came back to defeat UC Riverside, 6-5, Tuesday night at the Riverside Sports Complex. Glover's clutch hit helped the Aztecs end a three-game losing streak and improve to 6-4 on the season. The Highlanders, meanwhile, saw their record drop to 3-8.
Over the first six innings, the game evolved into a pitching duel between SDSU's James McLaughlin and Riverside's Paul Bargas. The Aztec right-hander, making his first collegiate start, went 5.2 innings allowing a run on six hits while striking out four. His lone mistake came in the second inning when he gave up a solo home run to Brett Hambright that staked the home side to an early 1-0 lead.
For his part, Bargas went 5.2 innings, also giving up a lone run on five hits. San Diego State's run came in the fifth on singles by Brandon Decker and Troy Hanzawa followed by an RBI base hit by Nick Romero that drove home Decker and knotted the score at 1-1.
The Aztecs looked to take control of the game in the seventh when they scored three times on an run-scoring single by Garett Green and a two-RBI double by freshman Cory Vaughn. UCR, however, had other ideas and knotted the score at 4-4 with three runs of its own in the bottom of the same inning. The Highlanders then grabbed the lead in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run to right by Mark Samuelson.
The top of the ninth began with Nick Romero's check swing single to third. Garett Green then reached first when his sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown wide of first base by Riverside third baseman Ben Price. After a strikeout, Glover laced a 2-1 pitch off UCR reliever Rob Waite (0-1) into the left center field gap that scored both runners and put the Aztecs on top 6-5.
SDSU brought on freshman closer Addison Reed to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth. After retiring the first two batters he faced, Reed gave up a double to Ryan Goetz before striking out Aaron Wible to nail down the victory. It was Reed's second save of the year and helped make a winner of fellow freshman Michael Dixon (1-0).
Hanzawa and Romero both finished the night with two hits apiece to lead San Diego State while Vaughn and Glover each had a pair of runs batted in.
SDSU now returns home to host the Aztec Invitational this weekend with a field that includes defending national champion Oregon State, Oklahoma State, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount and University of San Diego. San Diego State opens play on Friday, March 7, against Santa Clara at 7:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.