March 14, 2010
SAN DIEGO - San Francisco scored four times in the sixth inning to overcome a two-run deficit en route to a 5-3 victory over San Diego State in the final game of the 2010 Aztec Invitational at Tony Gwynn Stadium Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Dons improved to 9-8 on the season while SDSU dropped its third straight contest to fall to 6-10.
The Aztecs got on the scoreboard first with three unearned runs in the second inning that came with the help of a fielding error and some control trouble on the part of USF starting pitcher Cameron Love.
After Blake Silguero reached base with a single, Guy Willeford's fly ball to left was dropped by Jared Denham to put runners on first and second. Ensuing back-to-back walks to Matt Parker and Jomel Torres brought home the first run. A sacrifice fly by Brandon Decker made it a 2-0 game and that was followed by walks to Antonio Carrillo and Mitch Blackburn to force in another run and give the home side a three-run advantage.
The Dons came back with a run in the third on an RBI double by Derek Poppert, the first of his four hits on the afternoon.
SDSU starter Drew Leary got through the first five innings with the 3-1 lead, but the sixth would be the Aztecs' undoing. The senior right-hander put men on first and second on a single and hit batter with one out before being relieved in favor of Steven Moranda, who was greeted by a two-run double off the bat of Denham to tie the game at 3-3. A single by Nik Balog then set the stage for another two-RBI double, this time by Connor Bernatz as the visitors took a lead they would not relinquish.
Bernatz's double would make a loser of Moranda, who saw his record drop to 1-1. The win went to USF reliever Garrett Luippold (1-0) as he picked up his first decision of the season. Luippold had come on in the bottom of the fifth after SDSU loaded the bases with no outs and proceeded to retire the side with no runs allowed.
The Aztecs only other threat came in the seventh when they got singles from Blackburn and Cory Vaughn, but came up empty. Blackburn finished the game with two hits including a double while teammate Blake Silguero added a pair of singles as the duo combined for four of their team's five hits on the afternoon.
San Diego State will now have five days without a game as its next contest is scheduled for Saturday, March 20, when Santa Clara visits Tony Gwynn Stadium for a 6:00 p.m. start.