April 1, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State was held to three hits as it fell to the University of San Diego, 7-1, at USD's Fowler Park Tuesday night. With the loss SDSU fell to 21-8 as it lost for only the second time in its last six games.
The Aztecs opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first. Greg Allen singled and Tim Zier walked after which the duo pulled off a double steal. Seby Zavala then brought home Allen with a ground out to shortstop to give SDSU a quick 1-0 lead.
San Diego State starting pitcher TJ Kendzora kept the Toreros (19-9) off the board for the first two innings despite surrendering three hits over those two frames. In the third, however, USD took the lead on a two-out two-run homer by Andrew Daniel, his fourth of the season.
The Toreros would tack on one more run against the Aztec starter in the fifth. Louie Lechich walked with one out and advanced to second on a ground out to first. Josh Goossen-Brown then singled through the left side to plate Lechich and give the home side a 3-1 lead.
That would be the end of Kendzora's evening as he was lifted to begin the bottom of the sixth in favor of left-hander Aaron Cross. Kendzora's final line included the three runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
It all came unraveled for San Diego State in the bottom of the seventh as the Toreros broke open a close game by adding four runs to their total to take firm control of the contest. Those four runs came on four hits and three walks against a trio of Aztec freshman hurlers.
The Aztec offense, meanwhile, was effectively shut down after producing that first inning run. After a Stephen Pallares two-out single in the second, the only base runner SDSU had over the next four innings was a hit batter (Ty France in the sixth). Brad Haynal broke the hitless string with a single in the seventh, but that would be SDSU's last hit of the evening.
The win went to USD starter CJ Burdick (1-1), who was designated to pitch only the first three innings. He allowed SDSU's lone run on three hits along with a walk and three strikeouts. Three other Torero hurlers limited SDSU to one hit with two walks and two strikeouts over the final six frames.
San Diego State now returns to Mountain West Conference play as it hosts Air Force for a three-game series this weekend. That set gets underway on Friday, Apr. 4, with a contest scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.