May 14, 2010
PROVO, Utah - Brigham Young scored three times in the bottom of the 10th, overcoming a two-run deficit to defeat San Diego State, 10-9, at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo, Utah, Thursday evening. SDSU got offensive production from throughout its lineup, but was unable to hang on to a pair of leads late in the contest.
With the win the Cougars improved to 21-27 overall and 8-11 in the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs, meanwhile, saw their record drop to 25-24 (10-9 MWC).
For the second time in the past two weeks, first baseman Jomel Torres led off the game with a home run to stake SDSU to the early 1-0 lead. After BYU scored twice in the second, the Aztecs tied it at 2-2 on Brandon Meredith's RBI single in the next frame that brought home Mitch Blackburn, who had singled with one out. Meredith and Blackburn both finished the night with three hits apiece.
San Diego State added two more runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 6-2 lead. Blair Moore's two-run single accounted for the two in the fifth while back-to-back solo homers by Matt Parker and Josh Chasse added the two markers in the next frame. A run-scoring single by Blackburn in the top of the eighth made it a 7-2 contest.
Junior right-hander Addison Reed entered the contest looking for his ninth consecutive win on the mound, and he looked to be in line to accomplish that as he went eight innings allowing four runs on four hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. Despite giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth, he left the contest with a seemingly comfortable 7-4 lead.
The bullpen, however, could not make that lead stand up as the Cougars scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. Junior reliever Ryan Wynveen was the victim of the BYU rally although two of the three runs he allowed were unearned due to a throwing error by shortstop Ryan O'Sullivan.
In the top of the 10th, the Aztecs re-took the lead with a pair of runs that came from Torres' second solo homer of the night along with an RBI single by Cory Vaughn later in the inning. BYU, however, then put together its second straight three-run rally, this one good enough to win the game.
The three Cougar runs came against SDSU freshman Ethan Miller, who gave up three hits and three walks while retiring only one batter in the final frame. The loss dropped his record to 0-2 while BYU's Justin Shutt, who had retired the final two batters in the top of the 10th, picked up the win to improve to 4-6.
San Diego State and BYU will continue their three-game series with a contest on Friday, May 14, at 6:00 p.m. (MT) in Provo.