Feb. 22, 2011
SAN DIEGO - UC Irvine scored four times in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat San Diego State, 7-3, Tuesday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. It was the second time in three games that the Aztecs came from behind to tie the score late in a tight game against a ranked opponent only to fall short at the end.
On Saturday, SDSU knotted the score with fourth-ranked Vanderbilt at 3-3 in the eighth before giving up four runs in the top of the ninth in a 7-3 loss. The circumstances were similar against the Anteaters as the Aztecs tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth only to see UCI put up four runs in the next inning.
Against UCI, San Diego State (1-3) got on the board in the opening frame as Brandon Meredith doubled with two out and scored on a single to center by Jomel Torres.
Irvine, ranked 26th in the nation this week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, responded by putting up single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-1 lead. Those three runs (two earned) came off Aztec starter Steven Moranda, who went five innings allowing five hits, two walks and four strikeouts.
San Diego State cut the deficit to one with a run in its half of the fifth as freshman Dillon Bryant's one-out double was followed by an RBI single up the middle by fellow frosh Cody Smith to make it a 3-2 contest. It was the second of Bryant's two hits on the night and the first of a pair for Smith, who would come up big in the bottom of the ninth.
The score line remained unchanged over the sixth through eighth innings as Aztec relievers Craig Rasmussen, Philip Walby and Bryan Crabb shut down an Anteater offense that had put 39 runs on the board in three games last weekend.
Trailing by a run heading into its final at bat, SDSU got a break and some clutch hitting to extend the contest. Chris Wilson led off with a single, but was forced at second on an unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempt by Jared Hunt. Pinch hitter Kyle Hayes then hit a potential game-ending double play grounder to second, but the ball was booted and both runners were safe. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning it was up to Smith. And he came through with an RBI double to right that brought home the tying run to send the games to extra innings.
But the Aztecs' joy was short-lived as the Anteaters scored four times in the top of the 10th on a walk, three singles and a double that would make the final score 7-3. Those runs came off SDSU sophomore reliever Corey Black (0-1) who suffered his first loss of the year.
UCI's Brian Hernandez (1-0), who had given up the tying run in the ninth, was credited with the win after Jimmy Litchfield came on to retire the Aztecs in order in the bottom of the 10th.
Up next for San Diego State is its annual three-game series against the University of San Diego this coming weekend with two games scheduled at Tony Gwynn Stadium and one set for USD. The first contest is slated for Friday, Feb. 25, at 6:00 p.m. at SDSU's home field.