May 26, 2012
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - In a game in which it never trailed, San Diego State rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth to break a 9-9 deadlock and then held on in the bottom of the inning as it claimed a 12-11 victory over 20th-ranked TCU at the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas Saturday afternoon. The result eliminated the Horned Frogs (36-19) from the championship event and moved the Aztecs into the title game against New Mexico Saturday night.
The teams traded single runs in each of the first two innings with SDSU scoring on a solo home run by Greg Allen and a bases-loaded hit by pitch to Tim Zier.
SDSU added a pair of runs in the third and four more in the fourth to take an 8-2 lead, TCU, however, scored seven times over the next five frames to only once for the Aztecs to tie the contest at 9-9 after eight.
In the top of the ninth, San Diego State loaded the bases with two outs on walks to Tim Zier and Chris Wilson with Ryan Muno reaching on a catcher's interference. Spencer Thornton then got an infield single with the throw by the Frog second baseman skipping past first allowing Zier and Wilson to score. Jake Romanski followed with an RBI single through the left side to give the Aztecs a 12-9 advantage.
With Justin Hepner on the mound looking to secure the win, TCU scored twice on walk, hit batter and three singles. The Frogs loaded the bases with two outs before Hepner closed out the game with a grounder to the right of the mound that he took to first base himself to end the game.
With the win, Hepner improved to 5-3 while Horned Frog closer Kevin Allen (5-3) took the loss after giving up the first two Aztec runs in the ninth.
Jake Romanski paced the SDSU offense with three hits including a double and four runs batted in. Jomel Torres (RBI) and Spencer Thornton (2 RBI, run scored) also recorded three hits apiece.