April 12, 2011
IRVINR, Calif. - San Diego State was shut out on just three hits by four pitchers as it dropped a 3-0 decision to 19th-ranked UC Irvine Tuesday night at Anteater Ballpark. The loss dropped the Aztecs to 11-22 while UCI improved its record to 21-8.
Anteater starter Andy Lines (2-1) gave up a single to Pat Colwell in the opening frame then retired the next 11 batters in a row en route to picking up the win. Lines struck out the side in both the second and third innings as UCI hurlers recorded a total of 13 strikeouts in the contest.
Irvine got on the board early with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. D.J. Crumlich led off by reaching on a grounder to shortstop that was misplayed by Cody Slader. Crumlich advanced to third when pitcher Craig Rasmussen's attempted pickoff got by first baseman Jomel Torres. A single by Sean Madigan then drove Crumlich home to give the Anteaters a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the night.
After Irvine put two runners on with two out in the second, Rasmussen was lifted in favor of senior Steven Moranda, who got the third out to end the threat. But Moranda would give up a walk and two singles that allowed the Anteaters to add two runs to their total and take at 3-0 lead at the end of three frames.
From that point, three Aztecs pitchers effectively shut down UCI over the final six innings. Austin Haynal, who entered with no outs in the second, went three innings and allowed a lone single. Ryan Wynveen then came on to start the sixth and retired all seven batters he faced before giving way in the eighth inning to Bryan Crabb, who gave up an double before getting the final two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
Despite giving up just the one unearned run in his one inning of work, SDSU's Rasmussen was tagged with the loss to fall to 1-3 on the season.
Following Colwell's single in the first, the Aztecs were held hitless until Dillon Bryant singled sharply to center with two out in the eighth. SDSU's other hit came in the final frame when Tim Zier beat out a slow roller to third against UCI closer Brian Hernandez. Despite walking Colwell to put two runners aboard, Hernandez retired the next three hitters to record his seventh save.
San Diego State will resume Mountain West Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against 11th-ranked TCU. The Aztecs and Horned Frogs will open play with on Friday, April 15, with a contest scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. (PT) start at Tony Gwynn Stadium. That game will be broadcast live by CBS College Sports TV.