March 16, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State scored early and often as it routed Purdue, 18-3, in the third game of the teams' four-game series Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. SDSU's run output as well as its 22 hits were both season highs as it won for the sixth straight time to improve to 15-4.
The Aztecs batted around four times in the game including in each of the first two innings when they sent nine men to the plate in each frame and scored a total of eight times. Over the course of the entire contest, 13 different SDSU players collected at least one hit with a total of 12 individuals scoring at least once.
Purdue (1-13) starting pitcher Connor Podkul failed to get through the first inning as he allowed three runs on four hits with a walk and wild pitch before being lifted with one out. He would eventually be charged with the loss to fall to 0-3 on the season.
Boilermaker reliever Matt Frawley got the final two outs in the opening frame, but surrendered five runs in the second as SDSU again sent nine batters to the plate and upped its lead to 8-0.
Aztec starter Mark Seyler, meanwhile, went the first seven innings scattering seven hits and allowing an unearned run in the sixth. He recorded four strikeouts on the day including striking out the side in his final inning of work (the seventh). His solid pitching effort earned him his fourth win of the season as he improved to 4-1 and lowered his earned run average to 1.82.
Offensive highlights for San Diego State included the first career home runs for freshman Tyler Adkison and redshirt sophomore Spencer Thornton. Adkison's was a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the fourth and began a four-run Aztec rally that saw them increase their advantage to 12-0.
Spencer's blast came two frames later, a three-run homer in another four-run inning for the home side. Thornton, who had a two-run double in the second, finished with three hits (single, double, homer) and five RBI with two runs scored.
Brad Haynal (two doubles) and Andrew Brown (double) also had three this apiece for San Diego State. Tim Zier, Ty France and Seby Zavala contributed a pair of RBI apiece while Greg Allen scored three runs and had two stolen bases.
The Aztecs and Boilermakers will conclude their four-game series Monday evening with a contest slated to get underway at 6:05 p.m.