May 15, 2009
OGDEN, Utah - Utah used a 16-hit attack against four San Diego State pitchers as it defeated the Aztecs, 15-5, Friday evening at Lindquist Field in Ogden. It was a game similar to Friday night's contest won by SDSU, only this time it was Utah that fell behind in the opening frame and came back to win by a wide margin.
The loss ended SDSU's hopes of a second-place finish in the Mountain West Conference and a bye in the first round of next week's MWC tournament as it fell to 36-19 overall and 15-9 in league play. The Utes, meanwhile, improved to 21-27 (8-15 MWC).
As Utah did the previous night, San Diego State took a 2-0 lead in the first on a single by Pat Colwell, RBI double by Brandon Meredith and a run-scoring single by Erik Castro. From there, however, the Utes scored eight unanswered runs to take control of the contest.
Utah's first six runs came off SDSU starter Ryan O'Sullivan (4-3), who lasted only 2.1 innings. Those runs came on six hits, a walk and a hit batter along with a pair of errors. The miscues would become a theme for the night as the Aztecs committed a total of five errors during the contest that led to eight unearned runs.
After the first inning, Utah starter Andrew Wilding settled down as he retired nine in a row from the second through fifth innings, working into the sixth inning before leaving the contest. During his 5.2 innings of work he gave up four runs on 11 hits with no walks and five strikeouts as he won for the second time this season to improve to 2-5.
Trailing 8-2 after five innings, the Aztec got back into the contest with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back doubles by Castro and Cory Vaughn were followed by an RBI ground out by Mitch Blackburn and a single by Chris Wilson to cut the deficit to four.
However, the Utes responded in a big way as they effectively put the game away by scoring seven times in the bottom of the same frame. Two Aztec throwing errors aided that rally that included five hits and a pair of walks as Utah extended its advantage to 15-4. Over the course of the game, the Utes were led by first baseman Austin Jones, who finished with four hits (including a pair of doubles and home run) and seven runs batted in.
SDSU's final run came in the eighth when Castro hit a solo home run to left center field. It marked the fourth consecutive contest that the Aztec third baseman has homered. He ended the evening with a team-high three hits including a double, home run, two runs scored and a pair of runs batted in.
The Aztecs and Utes will play the rubber game of their weekend series on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. (MT).