May 18, 2012
FORT WORTH, Texas - San Diego State scored three times in the opening inning and a trio of Aztec pitchers made those runs stand up as SDSU defeated 20th-ranked TCU, 3-0, Friday evening at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth. The shutout was the first by the Aztec pitching staff this season.
With the victory, SDSU improved to 24-30 overall and 12-10 in the Mountain West. The Horned Frogs, meanwhile, lost for only the second time in their last 12 contests to fall to 33-17 (16-6 MW).
Greg Allen got the first-inning rally started with a leadoff single through the right side and advanced to second on a wild pitch by TCU starter Andrew Mitchell. After a pair of strikeouts, Ryan Muno drew a walk and both he and Allen moved up one base on a double steal.
Another base on balls to Spencer Thornton loaded the bases before Jake Romanski delivered a two-run double to right field to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Avondre Bollar then walked to re-load the bases and a third run scored on an infield single to third by Tanner Reibenspies.
SDSU's Cole Swanson made his first start on the mound since March 1, missing over two months of action after undergoing an appendectomy a few days later. The sophomore lefty struggled a bit with his control, but shut out the Horned Frogs over the first three innings. Swanson allowed only one hit and issued four walks, but stranded five TCU runners over the first third of the contest.
Justin Hepner came on in relief in the fourth and tossed the next four innings. He surrendered three hits with a walk and three strikeouts and his effort enabled him to pick up the win and improve to 4-2 on the season.
SDSU then went to Travis Pitcher on the mound for the final two frames and the junior right-hander completed the shutout allowing a pair of hits and a walk while striking out three. His effort was enough to be credited with the save, his first of the season. TCU's Mitchell would take the loss and see his record drop to 5-3 on the year.
No Aztec had more than one hit on the night as the Horned Frogs out-hit SDSU 6-5. Jake Romanski's double was the only extra-base hit of the game while four others including Greg Allen, Ryan Muno, Tanner Reibenspies and Evan Potter each had a single.
San Diego State and TCU will continue their weekend series on Saturday (May 19) with a contest scheduled to get underway at 4:30 p.m. (CT). That game will be televised live on The Mtn network.