April 23, 2013
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State erupted for eight runs on the bottom of the sixth inning to break open a one-run ball game and went on to defeat No. 21 UC Irvine, 18-2, Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win halted a three-game skid for the Aztecs, who evened their season record at 20-20.
SDSU sophomore Mike Robards earned his third win against no defeats as he held the Anteater offense in check over his 7.2 innings of work. He finished his stint with one run allowed on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
The game was a tight affair over the first five innings with the Aztecs holding a 2-1 edge. They had scored in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Tim Zier only to see the visitors tie the score in the ensuing frame. SDSU then took the lead for good with a run in its half of the fifth with Zier driving in another run, this time with a double to left field.
In the bottom of the sixth, San Diego State sent 13 men to the plate and used five hits, three walks and a pair of UCI errors to put together an eight-run outburst. Four players accounted for seven RBI in the frame which included a two-run double by Ryan Muno plus singles by Matt Muñoz and Jake Romanski that drove in two runs apiece.
The Aztecs put the outcome beyond doubt in the bottom of the eighth when they put together another eight-run rally, sending up 11 hitters and taking advantage of five hits, two walks and a hit batter to go up 18-1. In the inning, SDSU got a two-run double from Steven Pallares plus RBI singles by Justin Gheorghe and Muno. The other three runs came on a walk to Greg Allen and hit by pitch to John Spirk with the bases loaded along with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brad Haynal.
The Anteaters picked up a consolation run in the final inning off Aztec reliever Tyler Sapp on a double, wild pitch and ground out to second to finish out the scoring on the night.
UC Irvine (25-12) used seven pitchers with six of them being touched up for runs. The loss went to reliever Kyle Hooper (1-2) who was charged with two runs on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Zier led SDSU with four hits on the evening including a double with two RBI and a run scored. Haynal had three hits, two RBI and two runs scored with four others recording multiple-hit games. Greg Allen, Jake Romanski and Evan Potter had two singles apiece while Ryan Muno had a single and double along with a team-high three runs batted in.
San Diego State will resume Mountain West play this weekend when it hosts a three-game series against Fresno State. That set gets underway with a contest on Friday, April 26, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.