May 17, 2008
FULLERTON, Calif. - For the third consecutive night, San Diego State saw Cal State Fullerton jump out to an early lead and the Aztecs were unable to overcome the deficit as they fell to the eighth-ranked Titans, 8-5, in the series finale at Goodwin field in Fullerton. It was the final contest of the regular season for SDSU, which will enter next week's Mountain West Conference Tournament with a record of 30-26. CSU Fullerton, which has a Big West Conference series at Long Beach State remaining, improved to 35-17 as it won for the sixth time in its last seven outings.
Junior right-hander Jon Berger became the third Aztec starter in three days to concede runs to the Titans in the opening inning as Fullerton jumped on him for three runs on four hits and a walk in the bottom of the first. The SDSU starter fared little better in the second as the home side added a pair of runs (one earned) to up its advantage to 5-0.
Berger's night ended with a Jon Wilhite single that brought home CSF's fifth run with one out in the second as he would eventually be tagged with the loss to fall to 2-7 on the year. Wilhite, however, was just beginning what would be a career night as he would go on to record four hits and five RBI in the contest.
San Diego State attempted to get back into the contest with a run in the top of the third on singles by Cameron Johnson and Mike Willeford, a sacrifice bunt by Pat Colwell and an RBI ground out by Nick Romero.
After the Titans countered with a run in the bottom of the inning, SDSU struck for another run in the top of the fourth as a walk to Romero and a double to the center field wall by Brandon Glover got the Aztecs on the board to make the score 6-2.
But just as quickly, Fullerton tacked two more runs onto its line in the bottom of the frame off Rasmussen on a pair of base hits and a stolen base followed by a two-run single off the bat of Wilhite. Those runs gave CSF an 8-2 lead, but it would mark the end of their scoring for the night. Over their final four at bats, the Titans were held scoreless on two hits by Rasmussen (two innings) along with relievers George Snyder and Chase Thomas (one inning apiece).
On the other side, Fullerton starter Cory Arbiso held SDSU scoreless from the fifth through seventh before giving way to reliever Nolan Bruyninckx to begin the eighth. Arbiso would be credited with the win as he upped his season record to 11-2.
Trailing by six runs, the Aztecs did not go quietly as they struck three times in their final at bat off Titan hurler Adam Jorgenson. A single by Erik Castro and walks to Willeford and Josh Chasse loaded the base with two outs before Troy Hanzawa's single up the middle drove home a pair of runs. That was followed by an RBI single to center by Romero to make it 8-5, but that was as close as SDSU would get as Jorgenson closed out the game by getting Garett Green to fly out to center..
Hanzawa (two RBI) and Romero (one RBI) led San Diego State with three hits apiece while Castro and Willeford recorded two hits each.
San Diego State will now head to Fort Worth, Texas, for the 2008 MWC Tournament where it will face UNLV in the opening game on Tuesday, May 20, at 3:00 p.m. (CDT). The Aztecs finished tied with New Mexico in the final league standings at 16-8, but are the No. 3 seed in the tourney after the Lobos took two of three during the season. UNLV finished sixth and as a result is the No. 6 seed.