Feb. 24, 2012
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State's offense broke out of its early season doldrums with 17 hits as it defeated 21st-ranked Oregon State, 18-2, Friday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The victory ended a short two-game losing streak for the Aztecs, who improved to 2-4. The Beavers, meanwhile, fell to 4-2.
SDSU broke on top early with four runs in the opening frame and was never threatened the rest of the way despite giving up a total of 12 walks on the night. That first-inning rally was keyed by a two-run double off the bat of first baseman John Spirk, who would add two more hits and an RBI later in the contest along with a pair of bases on balls as he scored twice over the first seven innings.
Aztec starting hurler Travis Pitcher struggled with control issues over his four innings of work allowing six walks, but he managed to get out of trouble in each inning except the third when the Beavers cut the deficit to 4-1 on Michael Conforto's RBI single that followed a pair of walks.
The Aztec got that run back in the bottom of the fourth an then went up 8-1 in the next inning thanks to a bases-loaded three-run double by pinch hitter Jomel Torres.
Freshman right-hander Michael Cederoth (2-0) came in relief to start the fifth and would eventually be credited with the win after giving up a lone run on three hits while striking out five over three innings.
San Diego State went on to score in each inning from the fourth through the eighth including seven runs in the bottom of the seventh when it sent 13 men to the plate. Five of those runs came with two out on Spirk's RBI single, a two-run double by Jake Romanski plus RBI base hits by Avondre Bollar and Dillon Bryant. Bollar would add a tow0-run double in the eighth inning to close out the scoring as he would finish 2-fior-2 with three RBI off the bench.
Jake Romanski finished with two hits and three runs batted in while Jomel Torres' bases-loaded double in his only plate appearance of the night brought home three runs as well.
San Diego State will play a split doubleheader on Saturday (Feb. 26) with a contest against Kansas State at 2:00 p.m. followed by a game vs. Pacific at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.