May 2, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - San Diego got mixed results on Saturday as it won one and lost one in a doubleheader against Santa Clara contested at SCU's Stephen Schott Stadium. After winning the opening game, 7-5, San Diego State was unable to generate much in the way of offense in game two as it dropped the nightcap to the Broncos by the score of 7-2. With the split, SDSU's record now stands at 30-18 while Santa Clara ended a nine-game losing streak to improve to 16-26.
In the opening contest, the Aztecs got out of the gate quickly as Brandon Decker hit the first pitch of the game to the left field fence for a double. Jomel Torres then drew a walk and Brandon Meredith followed with his third home run of the season to give SDSU a 3-0 lead.
San Diego State doubled its lead one inning later as it scored three times on three hits, a walk and an error off Bronco starter Thain Simon. After Chris Wilson and Guy Willeford singled and walked to open the frame, Easton Gust's sacrifice bunt attempt, which went for an infield single, was thrown away at first base by Santa Clara catcher Geoff Klein allowing Wilson to score and putting men on second and third. Jomel Torres' single later in the inning drove in both of those runners and give SDSU a 6-0 advantage,
The Aztecs scored their final run in the third as Guy Willeford hit an opposite field solo home run to left center, his first of the season, to make it 7-0.
San Diego State starting pitcher Ryan O'Sullivan had at least one base runner in each of his seven innings of work, but his defense turned four double plays to limit the damage. The freshman right-hander would go 6.2 innings allowing three runs on 13 hits, but did enough to pick up the win and improve his record to 3-2.
Santa Clara began chipping away at SDSU's lead and eventually closed to within two runs in the final inning before Aztec closer Addison Reed got the last two outs to notch his nation-leading 15th save. SCU's Simon took the loss to fall to 3-5.
The second game started out much like the first as SDSU scored a pair of runs to take an early lead. A walk and stolen base by leadoff batter Zach Babitt was cashed in with an RBI single by Jomel Torres. Later in the inning, Brandon Meredith walked and scored from first base on a double to left by Erik Castro to give San Diego State a 2-0 advantage.
However, that would be the extent of the Aztecs' offensive output in the nightcap as Santa Clara starter Alex Rivers allowed only a pair of singles over the next eight innings. After Castro's double in the first, Rivers retired 25 of the final 27 batters he faced. In the process, the junior right-hander turned in his first complete-game effort of the season to even his record at 4-4.
After falling behind in the first, the Broncos scored in five of the first six innings, eventually taking a 7-2 lead with five of their runs coming off SDSU starter Jon Berger (3-5), who would be tagged with the loss.
On the day, San Diego State totaled 14 hits (10 in game one) while the Broncos had 28 hits over the two games. SDSU's leading hitters during the two contests included Brandon Meredith (two hits, three RBI, two runs scored) and Jomel Torres (two hits, three RBI, run scored). Guy Willeford, who only played in the first game, had a pair of hits, two walks, an RBI and two runs.
The Aztecs and Broncos will conclude their four-game weekend series Sunday afternoon with a single contest scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. (PT) start.