May 24, 2014
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - With a berth in the Mountain West Tournament championship game hanging in the balance, Mike Robards and TJ Kendzora turned in outstanding pitching performances for SDSU, but UNLV rallied for a 5-4 victory. The Rebels came back after being down by three in the eighth inning and won the contest on a walk-off double by T.J. White in the ninth.
The loss dropped the Aztecs' record to 39-19 and leaves the Rebels (35-21) as the lone undefeated team left in the tourney. The setback also sends SDSU into the losers' bracket where it will face Nevada at 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The winner of that contest will then move on to face UNLV at 7:00 p.m. and need to defeat the Rebels twice to claim the tourney title.
After falling behind in Friday night's contest to a first-inning UNLV run, San Diego State tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth when Steve Pallares was hit by pitch, advanced to second on a walk to Tyler Adkison and scored on Evan Potter's single to center.
The Aztecs took the lead in the next inning thanks in part to a pair of Rebel errors that made both runs unearned. With two out, Brad Haynal single to left to start the two-run rally. Seby Zavala then doubled to left, and when the left fielder kicked the ball it allowed Haynal to score from first with Zavala moving to third. Pallares' ensuing grounder to short was thrown past the first baseman with Zavala scoring and giving the Aztecs a 3-1 lead.
They made it 4-1 in the seventh when Tim Zier doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and came home on Haynal's sacrifice fly to right field.
After allowing the first-inning run, SDSU starter Mike Robards kept the UNLV offense at bay over the next three-plus innings. His evening ended, however, when he was lifted with one out in the bottom of the fifth after having surrendered a leadoff single and throwing a wild pitch to move the runner to second.
Senior TJ Kendzora was called in from the bullpen and he retired the next to batter to end the threat. Kendzora would go on to retire the first nine hitters he faced before allowing a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth. At that point the Aztecs summoned closer Michael Cederoth to take over on the mound.
The junior right-hander surrendered a single to the first man he faced to put runners at first and second, but then struck out the next batter for out number two. Rebel center fielder Edgar Montes then took a Cederoth fast ball over the left field fence for a three-run homer to tie the game at 4-4. It was only the second homer allowed by the Aztec reliever this season.
In the bottom of the ninth Matt McCallister was hit by a pitch and went to second on a passed ball to set the stage for White's game-winning double just inside the right field line. The hit made a loser of Cederoth, who lost for the first time since opening day of the season and saw his record drop to 5-2.
Brad Haynal and Ty France had three hits apiece for the Aztecs with Haynal and Potter recording one RBI each. Haynal is now 8-for-11 with three doubles over SDSU three tournament games.