March 5, 2011
The 22nd-ranked Connecticut Huskies scored six times in the top of the eighth to break open a tied contest en route to a 9-3 win over San Diego State Saturday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. With the victory, the Huskies improved to 3-4 on the year while the Aztecs saw their record fall to 2-8.
Although the visitors had at least one runner on in each of the first three innings, it was SDSU that struck first by putting three runs on the board in the bottom of the third. A two-out triple by junior Jomel Torres drove home Pat Colwell and Brandon Meredith, who had reached on a fielder's choice and base on ball respectively. Chris Wilson then drove home Torres with a single up the middle to stake Aztec starting pitcher Corey Black to a 3-0 lead.
However, following that offensive outburst, SDSU was held to just one hit over the final six innings by Connecticut starter Elliot Glynn (six innings pitched) and David Fischer (three innings pitched). The Huskies, meanwhile, slowly worked their way back into the contest with single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh to tie it at 3-3. The tying run came on a solo homer by Nick Ahmed in the seventh, one of his four hits on the night.
Connecticut then broke the game open in the eight as it sent 10 men to the plate against three San Diego pitchers to score six times on five hits, a walk and an Aztec fielding error. The big hit in the inning was a bases-loaded triple by George Springer that suddenly turned a one-run Connecticut lead into a four-run advantage.
Right-hander Philip Walby was the main victim of the Huskies' rally as he allowed four runs (three earned) on a walk and two hits. The freshman from Scripps Ranch HS was tagged with the loss in his first collegiate decision. Conversely, UConn's David Fisher (1-0) would be credited with the win in his first decision of the season.
Although the San Diego State put a man on base in the fifth through eighth innings, they were unable to generate any sustained offense. No Aztec had more than one hit on the evening.
San Diego State concludes weekend action with a contest against third-ranked Oklahoma at 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning. That game will be followed by a contest between Cal and Connecticut at 2:00 p.m.