May 21, 2014
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - San Diego got solid offensive output throughout the lineup along with a stellar pitching outing by sophomore Bubba Derby as it opened play at the Mountain West Tournament with a 15-1 victory over San Jose State Wednesday afternoon at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas.
All nine players in the Aztec order recorded at least one hit on the day while Derby tossed eight shutout innings scattering seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts. The seven hits he allowed were spread over the eight innings with the Spartans putting two men on base in only one frame. His effort earned Derby the win as he improved to 8-3 on the season.
San Diego State (38-18) struck for its first two runs in the bottom of the second with Tyler Adkison stroking a two-out two-run single to center that scored Brad Haynal and Steven Pallares. The latter two had singled earlier in the inning and moved to second and third respectively on a fly to deep center by Ryan Muno.
The Aztecs doubled their advantage two innings later with a pair of unearned runs. Ty France led off with a single which was followed by a base hit to right by Haynal. When Haynal's hit was misplayed by the Spartan right fielder it allowed France to come all the way around to score with Haynal moving to third. A ground out to shortstop by Pallares drove home Haynal to make it a 4-0 game.
One inning later that score line became 7-0 thanks to consecutive singles by Greg Allen, Tim Zier and Ty France (RBI) along with a two-RBI double by Haynal. That would mark the end of the day for SJSU starter Jonathan Hernandez who finished five innings having allowed seven runs (five earned) with a walk and two strikeouts. He would be charged with the loss and see his record fall to 0-7 on the year.
San Diego State capped off its afternoon by sending 11 men to the plate and scoring eight times in the bottom of the eighth. Those runs came on seven hits and a walk, all against Spartan reliever Michael Wright. The big blows in the frame included a two-run triple by Allen and a two-RBI double by Adkison. The Aztecs also got RBI singles from France, Pallares and Muno plus a sacrifice fly by Seby Zavala. For Allen, it marked his third triple in the past four games.
San Jose State (19-37) picked up a consolation run in the top of the ninth as Jacob Valdez led off with a triple to right center against senior TJ Kendzora and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly.
Haynal was SDSU's offensive leader on the afternoon as he ended the day with four hits including a double, two RBI and three runs scored. France (two RBI, three runs scored) and Adkison (double, four RBI, run scored) had three hits apiece while Allen, Pallares and Muno tallied two base hits each.
San Diego State will now move on to face the tourney's No. 2 seed New Mexico on Thursday (May 22) at 3:00 p.m. That contest will be the first of the week for the Lobos, who received a first-day bye by virtue of their seeding.