March 8, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - After struggling to get the clutch hit in Friday's series opener, San Diego State received contributions from throughout the lineup Saturday afternoon as it defeated Nevada, 10-4, at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Eight of nine starters recorded at least one hit while seven individuals had an RBI and scored a run.
In evening the three-game series at one apiece, the Aztecs improved to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West while the Wolf Pack fell to 6-8 (3-5 MW).
Things didn't' start off too well for SDSU, however, as Nevada leadoff hitter Kyle Hunt hit the first pitch of the contest over the left field fence to give the visitors a quick lead. It got worse for the Aztecs when Trenton Brooks led off the second with a home run to right to give the Wolf Pack a 2-0 advantage.
While San Diego State had runners in scoring position in each of the first two frames, it wasn't until the third that they cashed in. A leadoff single by Evan Potter was followed two outs later by an intentional walk to Ty France and a base on balls to Seby Zavala to load the bases. Freshman Andrew Brown then rocketed a double to left center that scored all three runners to give his team a 3-2 lead. Brown went on to finish the game with three hits, four RBI and a run scored in five at bats as SDSU led the remainder of the contest.
The Aztecs added a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Greg Allen that plated Steven Pallares, who had singled to open the inning and was sacrificed to second by Evan Potter. But Nevada made it a one-run contest again at 4-3 with a run in the top of the sixth, but that's as close as they would get the rest of the way.
San Diego State countered the Wolf Pack run in that inning with three of its own in the bottom of the sixth. Those came on run-scoring singles by Ty France and Brown along with a sacrifice fly by Zavala. The Aztecs' final two runs (one in the seventh and two in the eighth) were scored courtesy of RBI singles by Tim Zier and Pallares along with a sac fly from Tyler Adkison.
SDSU starter Bubba Derby tossed the first five innings allowing two runs on six hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts and would pick up the win to improve to 2-0. Michael Cederoth, who came on in the top of the eighth, surrendered just a walk in the ninth en route to recording his fifth save of the season.
In addition to Brown, five other Aztecs finished the afternoon with multiple hits. That group included Allen (RBI, two runs scored), France (RBI, two runs scored), Zier (RBI, run scored), Adkison (RBI) and Pallares (RBI, run scored).
San Diego State and Nevada will conclude their series on Sunday (Mar. 9) with a contest scheduled to start at noon.