March 10, 2010
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Six Long Beach State pitchers limited San Diego State to just five hits as the 49ers sicored a late run to defeat the Aztecs, 4-3, Tuesday night at Blair Field in Long Beach. The win improved the 49ers to 5-6 on the year while the Aztecs saw their record fall to 5-7.
SDSU Center fielder Cory Vaughn was involved in all three Aztec runs, giving San Diego State the lead on two occasions and scoring the tying marker late in the contest.
In the opening inning, Mitch Blackburn reached on a fielding error and advanced to second on Jomel Torres' sacrifice bunt before Vaughn laced a two-out single to left to give SDSU a 1-0 advantage. After the 49ers knotted the score with a run in the third, it was Vaughn again, this time with a two-out double in the right center field gap that brought Torres home from second base to make it a 2-1 game in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of that inning, Long Beach State took advantage of some control problems by Aztec starter Steven Moranda. The junior right-hander walked two of the first three hitters in the frame and the 49ers cashed in as a double off the left field wall by Devin Lohman brought home both runners and gave the home side a 3-2 lead.
Moranda would pitch into the sixth inning before departing the contest after 6.1 innings having allowed three runs on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts. The junior right-hander left the game with runners on second and third and one out, but John Pecoraro was able to come out of the bullpen and retire the next two batters to keep it a one-run contest for the moment.
SDSU tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth thanks in large part to some heads-up base running. After Vaughn reached first base on a third strike wild pitch to open the inning, Jordan Van Hoosier laid down a sacrifice bunt toward third. Vaughn, seeing that third base was uncovered on the play, advanced to that base from first on the play. Matt Parker then hit an RBI single to center to tie the contest.
The Aztecs' joy was short-lived however, as LBSU regained the lead in the bottom of the frame. A leadoff walk to TJ Middlestaedt by reliever Ryan Wynveen and a sac bunt set the stage for pinch hitter Joey Terdoslavich's run-scoring single to center off Drew Leary. Wynveen's was charged with the loss to fall to 0-1.
Long Beach State's Nate Underwood, who went three innings and gave up the tying run in the top of the eighth, was the beneficiary of Terdoslavich's hit as he picked up the win to improve to 0-1.
In the ninth, David Brown came on to close out the game, but walked leadoff man Brandon Decker. However, after Decker was sacrificed to second Brown would pick him off and close out the contest to record his first save of the year.
San Diego State will next be in action on Thursday, March 11, when it hosts Alabama-Birmingham at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium in its opening game of the annual Aztec Invitational. Fresno State will face Cal State Fullerton in the tourney opener at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon on SDSU's home field.