May 20, 2010
SAN DIEGO - Home runs by Brandon Meredith and Cory Vaughn plus a four-hit performance from Mitch Blackburn helped propel San Diego State to an 8-4 win over UNLV in Mountain West Conference baseball action at Tony Gwynn Stadium Thursday night. The game was the first contest in the final regular-season series for both teams as they look to establish their seedings for next week's MWC Tournament in San Diego.
SDSU (25-25, 11-11 MWC) got out of the gate quickly as Meredith's home run in the bottom of the opening inning staked his team to a quick 2-0 lead. His round tripper followed a walk to Jomel Torres to start the game and a sacrifice bunt by Blackburn.
Aztec starting pitcher Ethan Miller was able to keep UNLV (27-25, 11-11 MWC) off the board over the first three innings although the Rebels threatened in each frame. In the first, they loaded the bases with none out before Miller got a strikeout and double play. The second inning saw the visitors put two on with one out only to have Miller strike out the next two batters. They then stranded two more base runners in the third as SDSU maintained its two-run advantage.
In the fourth, however, UNLV was able to put together three hits along with a walk, hit batter and SDSU error to score four times and take a 4-2 lead.
The Aztecs responded in the bottom of the frame when Cory Vaughn connected for his eighth homer of the year, a solo shot over the right center field fence.
San Diego State re-took the lead with three runs in the fifth. One-out singles by Josh Chasse and Torres were followed by an RBI double by Blackburn to tie the contest. After a strikeout, the Rebels intentionally walked Vaughn and chose to face Blair Moore. The Aztec freshman spoiled that strategy with a single to left that brought home two runs to make it a 6-4 contest. All six Aztec runs to that point were scored off Rebel starter Tanner Peters, who would be charged with the loss and fall to 6-5 on the season.
SDSU added single runs on a two-out bases-loaded fielding error by the Rebels in the seventh and another RBI double by Blackburn in the eighth. The Aztec second baseman finished the night going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and two RBI. He also recorded a sacrifice bunt.
Vaughn had a pair of hits on the night including the home run and also walked twice while Torres had a single, double and three runs scored.
San Diego State junior Robert Alcala, who came on to start the fifth inning, tossed the final five frames allowing no runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. His performance was enough to earn him his first win of the season.
The Aztecs and Rebels will continue their series on Friday evening with a contest scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. start at Tony Gwynn Stadium.