May 21, 2009
Fort Worth, Texas - San Diego State staged its biggest rally of the year as it scored eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to overcome a seven-run deficit in a 9-8 victory over Utah at the Mountain West Conference Tournament Thursday evening. With the win, SDSU advances to the tourney championship contest for the first time since 2004.
The outcome also allowed San Diego State to reach the 40-win plateau for the first time since the 2002 season as it improved its record to 40-19. Utah, meanwhile, saw its record fall to 23-29.
The Aztecs' offensive outburst stunned the Utes, who entered the eighth with what looked to be a comfortable 8-1 lead behind the pitching of starter Andrew Wilding. The junior right-hander had limited San Diego State to a lone run on five hits while striking out six over the first seven innings.
Meanwhile, Aztec starting pitcher Jon Berger was stellar over the first four innings as Utah's lone base runner came on an error in the second. The senior right-hander struck out six over those first four frames.
However, it all came unraveled after he retired the first two hitters in the top of the fifth. After a hit batter, the Utes ran off five consecutive hits including a pair of doubles as it took a 5-0 lead. The final hit of the inning, an RBI double by Nick Kuroczko, spelled the end of the night for Berger, who would not be involved in the final decision at game's end.
The Utes went on to score single runs in each of the next three innings off three different SDSU relief pitchers to assume what appeared to be a safe lead.
The Aztecs' lone run to that point had come in the sixth inning when Meredith hit a one-out double to left center, went to third on a balk and scored on a ground out to second by Erik Castro.
The Aztecs had spurned scoring opportunities in four of the first five innings as they were unable to come up with the clutch hit with men in scoring position on those occasions. That would all change in the bottom of the eighth when they sent 13 men to the plate.
Ryan O'Sullivan opened the inning with a single and went to second on Pat Colwell's sacrifice bunt. That ended Wilding's night as he was lifted in favor of reliever Robert Chimpky, who lasted only two batters after issuing walks to Jomel Torres and Brandon Meredith to load the bases.
Utah then brought on lefty Stephen Streich, who was greeted by a two-run single to right center by Erik Castro to make it an 8-3 contest. A walk to Cory Vaughn re-loaded the bases before Mitch Blackburn and Matt Parker singled to drive in a run apiece and pinch hitter Chris Wilson walked to bring in another and make it 8-6.
Tyler Andersen then came on to pitch, but he fared little better than his three predecessors. O'Sullivan promptly singled up the middle to bring home a pair of runs and tie the score before Colwell doubled to left center to complete SDSU's amazing comeback. During the inning, the Aztecs had nine consecutive hitters reach base on five hits and four walks.
San Diego State closer Addison Reed was then called upon in the ninth and he shut down the Utes to record his nation-leading 19th save in 19 opportunities. Junior right-hander Kegan Sharp was the beneficiary of his team's rally as he was credited with the win to improve to 3-1. The loss went to Utah's Stephen Streich who saw his record drop to 2-3.
Castro (run, three RBI) and Meredith (two runs) finished with two hits apiece including a double while teammate O'Sullivan also had a pair of hits (one run) including the game-tying two-run single in the eighth. All told, eight of SDSU's nine starters ended the night with at least one base hit.
With the victory, San Diego State advances to the tourney championship game to be played Friday evening (May 22) at 7:00 p.m. (CDT). The Aztecs will take on the winner of the TCU-Utah contest which gets underway at 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon. Should SDSU lose the Friday evening contest, the same two teams will meet at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday for the title.