Feb. 26, 2009
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior right-hander struck out 16 batters over 6.2 innings and picked up his second win of the season as the Aztecs eased past Nevada, 5-2, Thursday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The contest was SDSU's opener in the annual USD Tournament during which it will host four games on its home field. The victory improved the Aztecs' record to 3-2 on the young season while the Wolf Pack fell to 2-3.
Strasburg faced the minimum over the first three innings, striking out seven of those nine hitters and allowing one hit. On the other side, Wolf Pack senior Derek Achelpohl faced six batters in his first two innings of work, striking out the side in the second. He ran into trouble, however, in the third when SDSU took the lead with three runs.
Jomel Torres began the rally by reaching on an error by Nevada third baseman Tyson Jaquez. Achelpohl then gave up back-to-back two-out walks to Pat Colwell and Mitch Blackburn. A wild pitch allowed Torres to score with both Colwell and Blackburn moving up a base. Brandon Meredith then unloaded a two-run single through the right side to give SDSU the 3-0 advantage. The three unearned runs were enough to saddle Achelpohl with the loss as he dropped to 0-1.
The home side added to its lead with a pair of runs in the fifth. Blackburn opened the inning by being hit by pitch and advanced to third on a double to right center by Meredith. A wild pitch brought Blackburn home with Meredith scoring on an ensuing double by Cory Vaughn.
Strasburg was cruising along until the Wolf Pack finally got to him for a pair of runs in the seventh. With two outs, a walk to Brock Stassi was followed by a run-scoring double off the bat of Jaquez, who in turn scored on a single to right by Nick Melino.
At that point, junior right-hander Kegan Sharp was summoned out of the bullpen and he struck out pinch hitter Michael Turay to end the rally. Kegan remained on in the eighth and finished with three strikeouts in his 1.1 innings.
Sophomore Addison Reed came on in the ninth to close out the contest and in doing so recorded his second save of the season.
Meredith was the lone Aztec with more than one hit on the night as he went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Blackburn scored a pair of runs while Blake Silguero, making his debut in left field, reached in three of his five plate appearances with a single and a pair of walks. On the mound, Aztec pitchers struck out a total of 20 Wolf Pack batters on the evening.
San Diego State's next action comes on Saturday, Feb. 28, as they host Pacific in a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. (PST) at Tony Gwynn Stadium.