April 9, 2013
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to defeat San Diego State, 4-3, Tuesday night at Blair Field. The 49er victory was made possible after LBSU had rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 3-3.
The Aztecs saw an outstanding performance by Mike Robards go by the wayside as the bullpen was unable to close out the contest. RoBards tossed eight innings of shutout ball allowing no runs just three hits with a walk and four strikeouts over those eight frames. He did allow a double and single to begin the ninth and would eventually be charged with two runs, but he was not involved in the final decision.
The Aztecs (17-16) broke on top with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Evan Potter singled to left with one out and was sacrificed to second by Greg Allen. Tim Zier followed with a RBI double down the left field line and he in turn came home on a single up the middle by Ryan Muno.
SDSU added a run to make it 3-0 in the top of the ninth on Evan Potter's ground out to first with the bases loaded that scored Brad Haynal from third.
Long Beach State (13-18) put together its three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth on four hits and a pair of hit batters. RoBards, who had been stellar over the first eight frames, gave up a double and single to begin the ninth and was lifted in favor of freshman Bubba Derby. A sacrifice fly and two RBI singles allowed the home side to knot the score at 3-3 before loading the bases with one out. Derby escaped further damage by inducing a pair of foul pop outs to send the game to extra frames.
Freshman right-hander Tyler Sapp came on to start the bottom of the 10th and retired the three batters he faced in that inning. But in the 11th he gave up a leadoff triple to Long Beach State designated hitter Ino Patron to open the inning. The ensuing hitters, Juan Avila and Richard Prigatano, were intentionally walked to load the bases. Josh Guerra than came up and coaxed a walk from Sapp (0-2) to bring home the winning run.
LBSU's Ty Provencher (1-0), the seventh pitcher used by the 49ers on the night, was credited with the victory after striking out the side in order in the top of the 11th in his lone inning of work.
Tim Zier, Brad Haynal and Evan Potter ended the evening with two hits each for the Aztecs with Zier and Potter driving in one run apiece as well.
San Diego State will resume Mountain West action as it travels to Colorado Springs, Colo., for a three-game series against Air Force that gets underway on Friday, April 12, at 3:00 p.m. (MT) at Falcon Field.