May 8, 2008
PROVO, Utah - San Diego got another dominating pitching performance from sophomore Stephen Strasburg as it opened its three-game series at Brigham Young with an 8-1 win over the Cougars at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo Thursday night. The Aztec right-hander allowed just an unearned run on two hits while striking out 15 and walking only one. In the process, Strasburg set one SDSU record during the contest and added a pair of Mountain West Conference marks to his resume.
With its fourth straight win, SDSU improved to 29-21 overall and 15-7 in conference play as it clinched at least third place in the league standings and the No. 3 seed at the upcoming MWC Tournament. The Cougars, meanwhile, fell to 19-32 (7-12 MWC).
Strasburg's 15 K's in the game give him a total of 125 on the year, breaking the SDSU record of 122 in a season set by Rob Brown during the 1989 campaign. His 92 strikeouts in conference games is a new single-season league record as he easily surpassed the 78 turned in by former Aztec Marcos Mendoza in 2001. With this likely being his final appearance in an MWC game this season, Strasburgg's 0.63 earned run average in league games is also a new conference standard, besting the old record of 1.12 set by TCU's Jake Arrieta in 2006.
The Aztecs opened the scoring in the third with a leadoff home run to dead center field by third baseman Nick Romero. One out later, a single by Brandon Glover was followed by an RBI triple to center off the bat of DH Brandon Ruddy, who then scored on a sacrifice fly by Erik Castro to make it 3-0.
After retiring the first nine men he faced, Strasburg saw BYU's Sean McNaughton reach to open the fourth inning when Garett Green muffed his grounder to second. With one out, McNaughton broke for second and Kent Walton hit a roller through the right side where Green had vacated to cover second base. A wild pitch allowed McNaughton to score the unearned run to make it 3-1, but that was close as BYU would get the rest of the night.
Castro extended SDSU's lead with a solo home run in the top of the sixth before the visitors added four more in the ninth courtesy of four hits and three BYU errors. The big blow in the inning was a two-run double down the right field line by Green that made it 7-1, and he completed the scoring as he crossed the plate on a two-out error.
Green (two doubles) and Romero (double, homer) finished with two hits apiece with Green and Castro accounting for two RBI each. With a single in the fifth inning, Brandon Decker extended his team-best hitting streak to 18 games, but the game saw Pat Colwell's 16-game streak came to an end.
After Walton's one-out hit in the fourth, Strasburg faced one batter over the minimum during his final 5.2 innings. He gave up a walk to Walton in the seventh, but erased him with a double-play grounder to second. The only other Cougar base runner came in the ninth when J.T. Musso led off the frame with a bunt single. Every BYU hitter, with the exception of Walton, struck out at least once on the night. The run allowed by Strasburg was only the second (one earned, one unearned) he has given up in his last 55 innings.
The Aztecs and Cougars continue their series on Friday, May 9, at 7:00 p.m. (MDT).