April 18, 2008
Las Vegas, Nev. - San Diego State's bats came alive as they struck for season highs in runs and hits in the Aztecs' 17-1 win over UNLV at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas Friday night. Those runs along with 20 hits came in support of another standout pitching effort by sophomore Stephen Strasburg, who unlike his last time out did not need to worry about run support.
SDSU's run total exceeded the previous season best of 15 against the University of San Diego during the opening weekend. The team's season high of 18 hits came in that same game as well as in the 12-3 win over Oklahoma State.
Strasburg, who struck out 23 in a one-hit shutout of Utah in his last outing, began the contest by striking out the first six Rebel batters he faced. He ended up pitching seven innings, holding UNLV (16-20, 5-8 MWC)scoreless while scattering four hits and striking out 13 with no walks. The win improved his season record to 5-1 as he lowered his earned run average to 1.73 overall and 0.90 in Mountain West Conference games.
The Aztecs (23-15, 10-3 MWC) took the lead in the second inning as Nick Romero led off with a single and was balked to second base by UNLV starter Matt Hutchison. Garett Green then laced a double to right center field to bring home Romero. It was the first of eight runs allowed by the Rebel sophomore right-hander on the evening as he would eventually be tagged with the loss to drop to 1-3.
SDSU added three more off Hutchison in the next inning that began with a solo home run to center field by freshman Cory Vaughn, his fifth of the year. SDSU then scored a pair of runs on a single by Pat Colwell, double by Brand Decker and a two-RBI single up the middle by Troy Hanzawa.
In its big fifth inning, San Diego State sent 14 men to the plate, scoring 10 times on nine hits, two walks, and a pair of Rebel errors to grab a 14-0 lead. Seven of the nine hits in the frame were of the extra-base variety including two doubles, two triples and three home runs. The homers were provided by Colwell, Brandon Glover and Erik Castro. Colwell added a triple to his hit total in the inning while Hanzawa notched a double and triple in the frame with three runs batted in.
SDSU added a solo marker in the sixth on a bases-loaded fielder's choice by Vaughn and two more in the eighth on a two-out two-run double by Josh Chasse to round out their scoring.
UNLV got a consolation run and avoided the shutout in the final inning on an RBI single by catcher Drew Beuerlein off SDSU reliever Michael Dixon. Freshman lefty Craig Rasmussen then came on to record the final two outs of the game to nail down the victory.
SDSU shortstop Troy Hanzawa led the Aztec offense with four hits, a pair of runs scored and five runs batted in while Pat Colwell (three runs scored, one RBI) and Nick Romero (two RBI, one run scored) had three hits apiece. Both Hanzawa (single, two doubles, triple) and Colwell (single, triple, home run) came within a hit of going for the cycle, a feat accomplished by Colwell last Saturday for the first time in SDSU history. The team's seven doubles was one shy of the team record of eight set four times previously.
San Diego State and UNLV will continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday (April 19) with a single game slated to start at 2:00 p.m. (PDT).