March 19, 2009
SAN DIEGO - A pair of defensive miscues led to five unearned runs, and those runs were the difference as Brigham Young defeated San Diego State, 6-2, Thursday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The loss ended the Aztecs' six-game winning streak as it fell to 13-7 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain West Conference.
BYU, which won for the 12th time in its last 14 outings, improved to 12-7 and moved into a tie with SDSU for second place in the MWC at 3-1.
The Aztecs took the early lead as they got to Cougar starter Jeremy Toole for a run in the bottom of the first. Pat Colwell led off the game with a single, stole second, then went to third and scored on ground outs to second base by Brandon Decker and Erik Castro.
The visitors struck back for three runs in the top of the third, all of the unearned variety, After Andrew Law singled with two outs, a ground ball to short went under the glove of Ryan O'Sullivan to prolong the inning. After a walk to load the bases, Brandon Relf doubled to the left field corner to drive home the three runners.
BYU upped its lead to 4-1 two innings later on a double by Steve Parker and a two-out RBI single by Michael Bowen.
SDSU added its second run in the bottom of the fifth. After Colwell led off with a double and Decker drew a walk, Castro doubled to left center. Colwell scored, but Decker was cut down at the play on the relay throw from Relf at shortstop.
Toole (4-1) shut the Aztec offense down the rest of the way as he finished eight innings with the two runs allowed on six hits while striking out eight. Aztec starter Nate Solow (0-2) was the hard-luck loser as he would go 7.1 innings, giving up four runs (three unearned) on eight hits while striking out eight.
BYU tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth, both of which were unearned as a misplayed ball in right field by Cory Vaughn kept the rally alive. The Cougars added those runs without the benefit of a hit as they used three walks (one intentional) and a sac fly in addition to the Aztec miscue.
Cougar closer Jordan Muir came on in the bottom of the final inning and struck out the side to secure the win.
With two hits apiece, Colwell (double, two runs scored) and Mitch Blackburn accounted for four of SDSU's total of six hits on the evening.
Brigham Young and San Diego State will continue their three-game series on Friday (March 20) at 6:00 p.m. (PT) at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The pitching matchup will feature a pair of junior right-handers in BYU's Blake Torgerson and SDSU's Stephen Strasburg.