March 4, 2011
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over 14th-ranked California Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win was accomplished with some excellent pitching and timely hitting on the part of the Aztecs.
After Cal (6-2) scored in the opening frame against SDSU pitcher Ethan Miller, the sophomore right-hander shut down the Bears' offense on three hits over the next six innings. Miller went a full seven innings, allowing the run on five hits while tying his career high of seven strikeouts.
From the third through seventh innings, he retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced, and the one hitter that did reach base was erased on a double play. For Miller, the win was his first as an Aztec and evened his season record at 1-1.
SDSU (2-7) scored its runs in the fourth as Brandon Meredith opened the inning with a walk and Jomel Torres followed with a single. Chris Wilson's double to right scored Meredith before a sacrifice fly by Brad Haynal brought home Torres with what would be the winning run.
Those runs came off Cal starter Erik Johnson (2-1), who entered the contest with a 2-0 record and a 0.00 earned run average over 12 innings pitched. He would go six-plus innings, giving up the two runs on eight hits with a pair of walks and eight strikeouts.
Senior left Craig Rasmussen (Hilltop HS) tossed the final two innings for San Diego State to record his first save. Cal made it interesting in the top of the ninth, putting men on first and second with one out, but Rasmussen was able to induce a pop fly to short before retiring Cal right fielder Danny Oh on a called third strike.
San Diego State will face 22nd-ranked Connecticut at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday (March 5) at Tony Gwynn Stadium. That game will be preceded by a contest between California and Oklahoma scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.