March 20, 2009
SAN DIEGO - Brigham Young bats were silent for seven innings against San Diego State ace Stephen Strasburg, but the Cougars took advantage of the SDSU bullpen as they scored four late runs to defeat the Aztecs, 4-2, Friday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win was the second in two nights for BYU as it improved to 13-7 overall and moved into sole possession of second place in the Mountain West Conference at 4-1. SDSU, meanwhile, saw its record slide to 13-8 (3-2 in league play).
A crowd of 2,032 fans, the second-largest gathering of the season and fourth biggest in school history, came out to see Strasburg and he did not disappoint. The junior right-hander opened the contest by striking out the side, a feat he accomplished in two other innings as well. On the evening he struck out 15 while giving up two hits and a walk over his seven innings of work.
The Aztecs took the lead in the contest with a pair of runs in the fifth inning on a rally that started with Pat Colwell being hit by pitch with one out. A single to right by Decker sent Colwell to second, and he went to third when Cougar right fielder Michael Bowen bobbled the ball. After a sacrifice fly to right brought Colwell home, Erik Castro lifted a high fly ball into the twilight that BYU center fielder Stetson Banks lost in the high sky. It fell in for a double with Decker scoring from first base.
Strasburg protected that lead over the next two innings although he did face challenge in the top of the sixth when BYU put runners on first and third with one out on a walk to Kent Walton and single by Andrew Law. Strasburg then proceeded to strike out Sean McNaughton and Steve Parker to end the threat.
With Andrew Leary on the mound to begin the top of the eight, BYU was able to generate three runs on four hits to take the lead for the first time on the night at 3-2. The big hit in the inning was a two-out two-run single off the bat of Parker. The Cougars added the insurance run in the ninth on a leadoff triple by Bowen and a sac fly by catcher Chad Nacapoy.
Cougar starter Blake Torgerson set the Aztecs down in order in the sixth and seventh after they had put their two runs on the board in the fifth, but ran into trouble in the eight when the home side put two runners on with one out on back-to-back singles by Castro and Cory Vaughn. Reliever Jake Wortham was then summoned from the bullpen and he recorded the final two outs on a fielder's choice and a foul pop out to third.
Just as he did the previous evening, BYU's Jordan Muir came on in the ninth and retired the side in order, this time picking up his fourth save of the year. Torgerson evened his season record at 2-2 with the win while Leary took the loss to fall to 0-1.
Erik Castro finished the evening as SDSU's leading hitter, going 3-for-4 with a double and RBI while Pat Colwell had a pair of hits and a run scored.
San Diego State and BYU conclude their three-game series with a contest on Saturday, March 21, scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.