March 11, 2012
SAN DIEGO - St. Mary's scored three times in the top of the 13th inning after San Diego State had wasted several opportunities in extra innings as the Gaels defeated the Aztecs, 8-5, Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The victory gave St. Mary's the series win as it took two of three from SDSU over the weekend to improve to 10-6. With the loss, San Diego State's record dropped to 9-8.
The Aztecs took an early 3-0 lead in the contest with a run in the second and two in the third. John Spirk's second home run of the season, staked SDSU to a 1-0 in the second and it went up 3-0 courtesy of a hit, error, two walks and a hit batter in the third.
San Diego State starter TJ Kendzora got through the first three innings, but struggled in the fourth when the Gael's scored five unearned runs to take a 5-3 lead. A leadoff double by Patrick Wisdom was followed by back-to-back SDSU fielding errors. After a fly out to center, St. Mary's recorded six straight hits that led to the five unearned runs.
The Aztec struck back immediately with a run in the bottom of the fourth when Chris Wilson singled and Cody Slader was hit by pitch. Evan Potter's bunt moved the pair up one base and Tim Zier's sacrifice fly to right made it a 5-4 contest.
The score remained unchanged over the next four-plus innings until Wilson led off the bottom of the ninth with his first homer of the year to tie the game at 5-5. The Aztecs then had Cody Slader double and reach third with one out, but they were unable to cash in as St. Mary's reliever Patrick Keane got a strikeout and ground out to end the threat.
Junior right-hander Ryan Doran, who had come on to pitch for SDSU to begin the ninth, shut out the visitors over the next three innings, but his teammates were unable to push the winning run across. The Aztecs loaded the bases with two out in the 11th, but failed to score. They also had a runner at third with two out in the 12th, but again came up empty.
With freshman Taylor Hansen on the mound to begin the top of the 13th, the Gaels struck quickly to grab the lead. Ricky Boas led off with a double that was followed by a triple off the bat of Cole Norton, who then scored on a single by pinch hitter Nick Rosso to make it 7-5.
Adam Anawalt then came in to pitch, getting a strikeout and having Rosso caught stealing before giving up a solo home run to Wisdom to give St. Mary's a three-run cushion.
The Gaels then called on Thomas Cortese to pitch the final half inning. After giving up a leadoff walk, Cortese recorded a strikeout and then got a double play to end the game as he recorded his first save. St. Mary's reliever Tanner Richler was the beneficiary of his team's 13th-inning rally as he was credited with the win to improve to 1-0. The loss went to SDSU's Hansen (0-1).
Senior Chris Wilson was the Aztec's hitting star as he finished with three hits including the home run and scored twice. Dillon Bryant collected a pair of singles in two plate appearances while John Spirk drove in two runs on the afternoon.
San Diego State will now prepare to get its 2012 Mountain West season underway as it travels to Albuquerque for a three-game series against New Mexico that begins with a game on Friday, March 16, at Isotopes Park.