April 1, 2009
SAN DIEGO - UC Santa Barbara batted around in both the second and third innings en route to a 15-8 victory over San Diego State Tuesday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win avenged Tuesday's contest in Santa Barbara won by the Aztecs and improved the Gauchos to 15-8 on then season as they ended a three-game losing streak. San Diego State, which gave up season highs in runs and hits, saw its record fall to 19-9.
After giving up a single run in the opening frame, SDSU starter Ryan O'Sullivan was charged with five runs in the second. Five of the six hitters he faced in the inning reached safely with the big blow a two-run homer by Mark Haddow. O'Sullivan would eventually give way to reliever Kegan Sharp, who fared little better. Sharp gave up a single and home run for the final two runs of the inning.
In the third, the visitors sent nine men to the plate and added five more runs to their total, doing so on four hits and an SDSU error to make the score 13-0. That lead would be too much for SDSU to overcome over the remainder of the contest.
The closest the Aztecs could come the rest of the afternoon was to draw within six runs at 13-7 after a four-run sixth inning, but UCSB pitching allowed the home side only one more score over the final three frames.
Gaucho starting pitcher Greg Davis gave up just a run on three hits, but was removed from the game at the end of the fourth inning despite having a 13-1 lead. Clayton Edwards came on in the fifth, but gave up six runs over his 1.1 innings of work. USCB's third reliever of the game, Zachary Samuels (3-0), went 1.2 innings and gave up no runs on just one hit to be credited with the win.
SDSU's O'Sullivan suffered the loss to fall to 1-2 as he was one of six pitchers utilized by the Aztecs.
Eight of San Diego State's nine starters had at least one hit in the contest led by two each from Pat Colwell, Brandon Meredith, Erik Castro and O'Sullivan, who also served as the DH. Castro was not retired on the day as he finished with a single, double, hit by pitch and a pair of walks. Meredith, who also had a single and double, drove in a pair of runs and scored once.
Up next for the Aztecs is a four-game non-conference series against UC Davis that begins Friday (April 3) with a game at PETCO Park, home of the San Diego Padres, set for a 2:30 p.m. start. SDSU junior right-hander Stephen Strasburg is scheduled to start that contest on the mound.