May 20, 2011
Las Vegas, Nev. - San Diego State combined clutch hitting with some excellent pitching as it defeated UNLV, 11-4, Friday evening at Earl Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas. With the win the Aztec improved to 20-34 overall and 10-13 in conference play as they will enter the final day of the regular season still able to finish anywhere from third to sixth in the final standings.
Sophomore right-hander Ethan Miller turned in a solid performance on the mound as he tossed 6.1 innings allowing three runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and five strikeouts. His effort earned him the win as he evened his record at 4-4 on the year.
The Aztec offensive attack, meanwhile, was led by Brandon Meredith and Tim Zier. Meredith had a single, double, home run and three RBI with Zier adding three singles and scoring a pair of runs. SDSU got contributions from throughout the lineup with eight of nine starters recording at least one hit.
San Diego State took the lead with a four-run fourth inning made possible by five hits and a walk against Rebel starter Joe Robinson. The rally was highlighted by Meredith's two-run double, an RBI single by Dillon Bryant and Chris Wilson's sacrifice fly. Robinson would be tagged with the loss to fall to 5-6.
The Aztecs added two more in the fifth without the benefit of a hit. Walks to Mitch Bluman, Wilson and Pat Colwell were followed by another free pass to Cody Smith to make it 5-0. The second run came home on a balk by UNLV reliever Thomas Whitsett.
SDSU's lead looked comfortable until UNLV finally got to Miller for three runs in the bottom of the seventh. A hit batter and three straight hits suddenly made it a 6-3 contest and ended Miller's night. Craig Rasmussen was summoned from the bullpen and he got a fielder's choice before picking off Scott Dysinger to end the threat. It was Rasmussen's school-record 10th pickoff of the season. The senior lefty would finish out the contest to record his second save.
After seeing their lead cut in half in the seventh, the Aztecs responded in the next inning with a four-run outburst. RBI hits by Jomel Torres, Bryant (double), Bluman(double) and Colwell gave SDSU a 10-4 lead and put them in solid control. The final run came in the top of the ninth on Meredith's solo home run that came off former Aztec pitcher Trevor Clausen.
San Diego State and UNLV will finish up their three-game series with a contest on Saturday (May 21) scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.