March 11, 2010
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State saw UAB rally from a seven-run deficit in the final inning but came up just shy as the Aztecs held on for an 8-7 victory over the Blazers Thursday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The contest was the opener for each side in this year's Aztec Invitational and saw SDSU improve to 6-7 on the year while UAB dropped to 7-4.
San Diego State almost wasted another excellent pitching performance from junior right-hander Addison Reed, who allowed just one hit with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts over his seven innings of work. He departed with what looked to be a comfortable 8-0 lead, but UAB made it interesting in the closing stages.
Reed (3-1) retired the first 15 batters he faced before a leadoff double in the fifth by Blazer first baseman Luke Stewart. Through his seven innings of work, he would face just two batters over the minimum
UAB starter Mitch Kloskowski was almost as effective in the early going as he put down nine of the first 10 men he faced over the opening three innings.
The Aztecs finally got on the board in the fourth on a two-out single to left by Cory Vaughn and an RBI double to the center field wall by freshman Jordan Van Hoosier. They doubled that lead two frames later on Vaughn's sacrifice fly to right that brought home Brandon Decker to make it a 2-0 score line.
That sixth-inning rally spelled the end of the night for Kloskowski, who was removed from the contest after 5.1 innings of work. The two runs he allowed were enough for him to be saddled with the loss as he evened his season record at 1-1.
SDSU's big inning came in the seventh when it scored six unearned runs. Singles by Matt Parker and Decker put two on with two out before Mitch Blackburn's grounder to third was thrown away, allowing both runners to score. That play opened the floodgates as the Aztecs got RBI singles from Brandon Meredith, Vaughn and Van Hoosier plus a run-scoring balk to make it an 8-0 game.
UAB came back with a single run in the eighth, and then scored six times in the final frame courtesy of four hits and a pair of SDSU errors. With two out and the tying run at third, reliever John Pecoraro came on and provided some anxious moments, issuing a pair of walks to load the bases before getting the final out on a called third strike. The save for Pecoraro was his first as an Aztec.
Brandon Decker led SDSU batters with three hits and a pair of runs scored while Cory Vaughn and Jordan Van Hoosier had two hits apiece along with two runs batted in.
Action in the Aztec Invitational continues at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Friday, March 12, as Fresno State takes on San Francisco at 2:00 p.m. followed by San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton at 6:00 p.m.