April 22, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State scored six runs in the bottom of the third and went to on record a 7-5 victory over visiting Cal State Northridge Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. By winning for the fourth time in their last five contests the Aztecs improved to 29-12 on the year while the Matadors ledger dropped to 15-25.
CSUN put men on base in each of the first three frames, but could not get to SDSU starter Cody Thompson for any runs. The Aztecs on the other hand went down in order in each of the first two innings against Matador starter Jordan Johnson. The bottom of the third, however, was a different story as SDSU sent nine men to the plate to forge a 6-0 lead.
Tyler Adkison began the inning with a single up the middle and was sacrificed to second by Ryan Alvarez. After Even Potter was hit by pitch, center fielder Greg Allen stepped up and lashed a triple to center field to score both runners. Tim Zier then hit a ball past a drawn-in infield to plate Allen and make it a 3-0 contest.
Ty France followed up with a single before Seby Zavala tripled into the right center field gap to bring home Zier and France. Andrew Brown's sacrifice fly to center drove in Zavala to complete the scoring in the inning.
The Matadors finally got to Thompson in the top of the fifth, as they scored once and loaded the bases with two out before the redshirt freshman hurler was removed from the contest. TJ Kendzora came on and got a soft line drive to second to end the inning.
SDSU's response was immediate as it added a run to tis total in the bottom of the fifth. Allen singled, stole second and advanced to third when the Matador catcher's throw to second sailed into center field. France then singled to score Allen and make it a 7-1 contest.
Cal State Northridge cut into the deficit with a run in the top of the seventh with three singles against Kendzora. It would be Kendzora's final inning as he gave way to Steven Pallares to start the eighth. Kendora would eventually be credited with the win to improve to 4-1.
Pallares sailed through the eighth, but ran onto trouble in the top of the ninth as an error prolonged the frame and allowed the Matadors to tack three unearned runs onto their total. Closer Michael Cederoth recorded a strikeout to end the contest and register his 16th save of the season to move into a tie for the national lead in that category.
Allen (triple, two runs, two RBI), France (RBI, run scored) and Tyler Adkison (run scored) finished with two hits apiece to lead the Aztec offense.
San Diego State will now resume Mountain West Conference play as it is set to host San Jose State for a three-game series this weekend. The first game of that set is slated for Friday, Apr. 25, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.