April 6, 2013
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State scored a walk-off Mountain West win Saturday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium, beating Nevada 5-4 on catcher Jake Romanski's RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Romanski's heroics were made possible because of teammate Ty France's team-leading third home run leading off the eighth inning that tied the game 4-4.
In the ninth, the Aztecs (16-15, 7-4) started the rally when Tim Zier was hit by a pitch with one out. Teammate Ryan Muno singled through the left side to put Zier in scoring position before Romanski's fourth hit of the game brought Zier home from second base and set off a celebration.
SDSU played catch-up throughout the game. Nevada (17-13, 5-6) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning before SDSU scored in the third on Greg Allen's RBI single up the middle. The Wolf Pack went ahead again with a run in the fourth inning with a run and scored two more (both unearned) in the sixth to make it 4-1.
The Aztecs made it a one-run game again in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on Steven Pallares' sacrifice fly and Danny Sheehan's single to left field to make it 4-3. The Aztecs finally drew even on France's homer.
SDSU starting pitcher Philip Walby pitched six innings, allowing seven hits with two earned runs, seven strikeouts and three walks. Reliever Justin Hepner pitched 2.2 scoreless innings before freshman closer Bubba Derby (3-1) was summoned to get the last out of the ninth inning.
Nevada's Tyler Wells allowed 10 hits and three runs over 5.1 innings before giving way to reliever Colby Blueberg, who kept the Aztecs off the scoreboard until France's homer.
Romanski's four hits led SDSU's 14-hit attack. Zier, Allen, France and Sheehan had two hits apiece.
The teams conclude the three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.