May 22, 2008
| Game Recap |
FORT WORTH, Texas - San Diego State's 2008 baseball season came to an end as it dropped a 1-0 decision to Utah in an elimination game at the 2008 Mountain West Conference Tournament Thursday morning at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. It was a role reversal for the Aztecs, who had defeated Brigham Young, 1-0, on Wednesday to remain alive in the championship event.
Thursday's contest was a classic pitchers duel between Stephen Strasburg and Utah starter John James with the SDSU right-hander coming up on the short end of the decision.
James (4-7) tossed the complete-game shutout, allowing the Aztecs just four hits while striking out nine and issuing four walks as he won for the fourth time this season. SDSU put a runner on base in each of the first seven frames, but none advanced past second base with only three getting that far.
Strasburg (8-3), meanwhile, went seven innings, giving up the game's lone run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. In the process, he tied the conference record for strikeouts in a season with 133, matching the mark set by BYU's Nate Fernley in 2001.
Utah's run came in the top of third and began with Corey Shimada being hit by pitch and advancing to second on a single by Cody Guymon. With two outs, Dustin Hennis lifted a fly ball to left center that the wind pushed back toward the infield and just out of the reach of a diving Brandon Glover. That allowed Shimada to race home with the deciding run. The victory allowed the Utes to improve to 25-27 on the season.
The game was the third in a row in which the Aztecs got solid pitching but were held in check offensively. Over its three contests during the tournament, SDSU turned in a 1.67 earned run average by its pitching staff but hit only .190 as a team which led to its early elimination.
With the loss, San Diego State concluded its 2008 campaign with an overall record of 31-28. It marked the most wins by the Aztec since 2004 and also its first finish over the .500 mark since that same season when they went 35-29. SDSU's went 16-8 in Mountain West Conference play, its best record in the league since going 19-9 that same year.