May 22, 2015
RENO, Nev. - Justin Wylie's two-run homer in the top of the eighth broke a 6-6 deadlock and helped propel San Diego State to a 9-7 victory over host Nevada at the 2015 Mountain West Tournament in Reno. With the victory the Aztecs (37-21) remain alive as they improve to 9-0 when facing elimination at the MW Championship over the past three seasons.
The loss eliminates the No. 23 Wolf Pack from the tourney and drops their record go 41-15. Their postseason fate is now out of their hands as they will await word of an at-large NCAA Tournament berth on Monday.
Wylie's home run was the fifth of five by Aztec hitters in the contest. Also going deep were Seby Zavala (twice), Danny Sheehan and Andrew Brown. Prior to Friday afternoon's game the Aztecs had hit as many as three homers in a game only once this season.
The Aztecs came out swinging against Nevada unimpressed by the home team's national ranking and regular-season league title. A single by Steven Pallares and walk to Ty France set the stage for Spencer Thornton's two-run double that gave the Aztecs a quick 2-0 advantage.
Not to be outdone, the Wolf Pack answered right back with three in the bottom of the first to go up 3-2. The opening frame was an indication of what would be a wide-open offensive contest.
Trailing by a run, SDSU scored three times in the top of the third to take a 5-3 lead. Sheehan led off with a solo homer to left, and after France followed with a single Zavala hit the first of his four-baggers deep over the center field fence.
No lead would be safe in this contest, however, and Nevada got a run back in the bottom of the inning to close to within 5-4 and took the lead with two more in the fifth.
The Aztecs, however, tied it up in their half of the sixth on a two-out home run by Brown. The visitors would not trail after that point in the contest.
In the top of the eighth, Thornton led off with a base on balls against all-conference reliever Adam Whitt. One out later Wylie took Whitt over the left field fence to give the Aztecs an 8-6 lead.
The Wolf Pack closed to within a run in the bottom of the same inning, but Zavala restored SDSU's two-run advantage with a solo homer to center in the ninth to make it a 9-7 score line. But the drama was far from over.
With sophomore lefty Marcus Reyes on the mound, Nevada loaded the bases in its final at bat on a walk and back-to-back singles with one out. Reyes then retired conference Freshman of the Year Cal Stevenson on a foul pop-up to Zavala behind the plate before getting Trenton Brooks on a called third strike to end the contest.
Reyes, who went the final 1.1 innings, picked up his first save of the year. CJ Saylor (2-3), who had come on to get the final out in the bottom of the seventh, was credited with the victory. Whitt took the loss to even his record at 2-2.
Zavala (2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored) and Wylie (HR, two RBI, run scored) were the only Aztecs to end the afternoon with two hits. Thornton had two RBI with a double while Sheehan and Brown had the home runs as their lone hit.
In addition to their homers in this game, Zavala and Sheehan both connected for round-trippers in the win over Air Force earlier in the day.
San Diego State will continue play at the conference tournament on Saturday, May 23, at 3:00 p.m. against the loser of the Fresno State-New Mexico game which has been delayed until 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning due to rain. A win in that 3:00 p.m. contest would move the Aztecs into the 7:00 p.m. game against the winner of the morning FSU-UNM game.