May 25, 2013
FRESNO, Calif. - San Diego State pounded out 17 hits and got some solid pitching from a pair of hurlers as it defeated UNLV, 6-2, in an elimination game Saturday afternoon at the Mountain West Tournament in Fresno, Calif. With the win the Aztecs (29-29) advance to a 7:00 p.m. contest against New Mexico.
A win over the Lobos would force a second game between the teams on Sunday for the conference title. A UNM victory in the Saturday night contest would gave the Lobos the league crown.
Against UNLV (37-20), San Diego State opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the second in support of freshman right-hander Bubba Derby, who was making his first start of the year after serving as the team's closer in his inaugural season with the Aztecs. Those two runs came courtesy of RBI singles by Ty France and Evan Potter. It was the first of three hits on the day for France, who also reached base twice after being hit by pitch.
SDSU upped its lead to 3-0 on inning later when France was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force home Danny Sheehan, who had singled to open the frame. Like France, Sheehan also ended the afternoon with three hits.
Derby, meanwhile, sailed through the first four innings before surrendering two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run to T.J. White and an RBI single by Joey Armstrong. That made it a 3-2 contest, but that was as close as the Rebels would get over the rest of the contest.
Derby would depart the contest after five innings, but not before pitching long enough and well enough to eventually be credited with the victory to improve to 4-3 on the season. His final line included the two runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
Derby's teammates would add single runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings for the final 6-2 score line. The Aztecs got RBI singles in those innings from Brad Haynal, Greg Allen and Matt Muñoz.
Senior Ethan Miller went the final four innings on the mound in relief of Derby. He allowed no runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout as he notched his first save of the season.
The Aztecs now move on to face New Mexico at 7:00 p.m. Saturday evening.