March 22, 2011
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Three San Diego State pitchers limited UC Riverside to three hits and the Aztecs took advantage of several scoring opportunities as they defeated the Highlanders, 5-1, Tuesday evening at the Riverside Sports Complex.
The win was SDSU's third in its last four outings as it improved to 6-15. UCR, meanwhile, saw its record fall to 10-9.
Junior right-hander Austin Haynal made his starting debut on the mound and retired the first two hitters he faced in the opening frame before a walk and double to center field gave the Highlanders an early 1-0 lead.
After frustratingly leaving five men on base over the first two innings, San Diego State finally got on the board with an unearned run in the third. Jomel Torres doubled to right and advanced to third when Chris Wilson's grounder was booted by Riverside second baseman Eddie Young. Cody Slader then laid down a sacrifice bunt to first base that brought Torres home with the tying run.
With the middle of the Highlander lineup loaded with left-handed hitters, the Aztecs brought on southpaw Ryan Wynveen with one out in the bottom of the third. After walking the first man he faced, he got a double play to end the inning and then held UCR scoreless in the fourth while striking out two. Wynveen's effort would be rewarded as SDSU took the lead in the top of the fifth and he would be credited with the victory.
Riverside reliever Mark Garcia's control problems as much as SDSU's hitting contributed to the visitors' rally in the fifth. After walking the first two batters to open the inning, Garcia got a double play to leave a runner on third with two out, seemingly quelling the threat.
But Slader then followed with a single to drive home his second run of the night. An ensuing single by Cody Smith and a walk loaded the bases before reliever Mike Wolford took the mound only to walk Evan Potter and force home the second run of the inning.
In the sixth, Brandon Meredith double to center field and scored on Wilson's two-out single through the left side. A wild pitch sent Wilson to second before Slader again came through with the clutch hit, a bloop RBI double to right center that sent Wilson home with SDSU's fifth run.
Sophomore Bryan Crabb then turned in the pitching performance of the night after coming on to start the bottom of the fifth and finishing out the contest on the mound. Over his five innings of work, the second-year right-hander gave up just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out four. Only one of the three batters that reached against him advanced as far as second base. His performance earned Crabb his first save of the season.
For the Aztecs, Brandon Meredith and Cody Slader finished the night with two hits apiece. Meredith scored a pair of runs while Slader accounted for three of the team's five RBI on the evening.
San Diego State will now travel to Provo, Utah, for a three-game Mountain West Conference series against Brigham Young that gets underway with a contest on Thursday, March 24, at 6:00 p.m. (MT) at BYU's Larry H. Miller Field.