April 16, 2010
SAN DIEGO - After missing four weeks with a broken pinky finger on his throwing hand, San Diego State All-American pitcher Addison Reed picked up where he left off as his effort on the mound helped the Aztecs record an 8-6 win over Utah Friday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win was SDSU's sixth in its last seven games as it improved to 16-18 overall and evened its conference record at 5-5.
Despite giving up solo home runs in each of the first two innings and a pair of unearned runs in the fourth, Reed's teammates provided enough run support to enable him to claim his fifth straight win and improve to 5-1 on the season. The junior hurler went seven innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk while tying his season and career high with 11 strikeouts.
In the top of the first, Reed struck out the first two batters he faced before giving up a home run to Utah third baseman Nick Kuroczko. The lead was short-lived, however, as SDSU answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning off Ute starter Jordan Whatcott.
Singles by Mitch Blackburn and Cory Vaughn with two out were followed by Ryan O'Sullivan being hit by pitch to load the bases. A walk to Blair Moore brought in the first run before Jomel Torres' single to right made it a 3-1 contest. Chris Wilson added an RBI single to drive home the fourth run of the inning.
The top of the second was déjàvu all over again as Reed struck out the first two batters before Utah's Mark Moorman hit a solo homer to make it a 4-2 contest. The Aztecs countered with a marker in the bottom of the frame that scored when Brandon Decker and Cory Vaughn pulled off a double steal form third and first respectively.
The Utes (17-14, 5-5 MWC) came back with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth to make it a one-run game once again, but San Diego State got a two-run double from Moore in the bottom of the seventh to restore the Aztecs three-run advantage at 7-4.
Not to be outdone, the visitors scored twice in the eighth, but SDSU freshman Jordan Van Hoosier extended his team's lead to 8-6 with a solo home run in the bottom of the frame.
The Utes threatened in the ninth as they eventually loaded the bases with two outs, but junior reliever Robert Alcala got the final out tp pick up his first save of the season. Utah's Whatcott, who had departed the game in the fifth inning, took the loss to fall to 4-5.
For the Aztecs, Van Hoosier was the lone player to record more than one hit while Moore finished with three runs batted in.
Utah and San Diego State will continue their weekend series on Saturday (April 18) with a single contest at 1:00 p.m. (PT) at Tony Gwynn Stadium.