April 20, 2008
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - After falling behind by as many as four runs over the middle innings, UNLV scored 13 times over the sixth through eighth frames as it went on to claim an 20-16 victory over San Diego State Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas. The win allowed the Rebels two capture the weekend series as they improved to 18-20 overall and 7-8 in the Mountain West Conference. SDSU, meanwhile, fell to 23-17 on the year as they dropped into third place in the MWC standings with a 10-5 mark.
Although the winds weren't as heavy as Saturday, there was a constant 13-18 mile per hour breeze throughout the contest which affected the pitchers more than anything else. A total of six Aztec hurlers gave up 19 hits, eight walks, four hit batters, three balks and three wild pitches while striking out only one UNLV batter in the game. On the other side, five Rebel pitchers allowed 19 hits, four walks, a hit batter and a balk, but struck out eight SDSU batters.
After falling behind by four after two innings, San Diego State got three runs back quickly on back-to-back homers by Troy Hanzawa and Nick Romero in the third. One inning later, the Aztecs took the lead, scoring four times on a two-RBI double by Hanzawa followed by Romero's second homer of the afternoon.
UNLV closed to within a run with three more runs off SDSU starter Shane Kaufman to make it a 7-6 game before Hanzawa extended the Aztecs' lead to two runs with his second homer of the contest, a solo shot in the top of the sixth.
The Rebels re-took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five times on just two hits, two walks, two hits batters and an error. The Rebels added six more in the next inning, getting six hits, a walk and a hit better in the process. Only two of the eight hits in those two innings were of the extra-base variety as the home side built an 18-11 advantage.
SDSU senior lefty Brandon Villalbobos was the pitcher of recorded when UNLV assumed the lead as he suffered the loss to drop to 0-1 on the season. Conversely, Rebel reliever Michal Goodman (1-1) took credit for the victory despite allowing three runs over his two innings of middle relief work.
The Aztecs tried to fight back with three in the eighth and two in the ninth, but UNLV added a pair in the eighth themselves to provide the final score line. For the second day in a row, every player on both team as recorded at least one hit as SDSU scored in seven inning and the Rebels in six.
SDSU outfielder Brandon Decker led all players with four hits and also scored a pair of runs while teammate Troy Hanzawa finished with three hits, including the two home runs, and five runs batted in. Catcher Bubba Ruddy matched Hanzawa's hit total while driving in a pair of runs. In addition, Romero's two home runs give him a career total of 24 as he moved into fifth place on the all-time Aztecs list.
San Diego State will now have a short break from league play as it travels to Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 22, to face USC at Dedeaux Field at 7:00 p.m. (PDT).