May 24, 2015
Box Score vs. Fresno State | Box Score vs. New Mexico
RENO, Nev. - San Diego State won a pair of elimination contests on Saturday to advance to the championship game of the 2015 Mountain West Conference Tournament on Sunday. The Aztecs defeated New Mexico, 11-1, in a seven-inning contest (10-run rule) after having downed Fresno State, 7-6, in 10 innings earlier in the day.
SDSU had a number of hitting stars over the course of the two contests led by Seby Zavala, who had four hits including a double and two home runs (one in each game), five RBI and a pair of walks.
Danny Sheehan and Justin Wylie had four hits apiece with Sheehan recording a double, homer and four RBI and Wylie registering a double and four RBI. In addition, Alan Trejo had three hits with a home run and three RBI while Andrew Brown also had three hits, three walks and scored three times.
The nightcap against New Mexico (32-26) saw the season starting debut of redshirt freshman Jacob Erickson, and the lefty did not disappoint. After surrendering a run in the top of the first, Erickson tossed six shutout innings, keeping at bay a Lobo offense that had scored 22 runs in its first two tourney contests. That included retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced, allowing just a single in the fifth inning.
SDSU took control of the game in the third when it sent 12 men to the plate and scored eight runs. Highlights of the frame included a two-run double by Danny Sheehan that gave SDSU the lead at 2-1, a two-run homer by Zavala, his fifth of the tournament, and a solo homer by Spencer Thornton.
Zavala struck again one inning later when his double to the right field corner scored Sheehan from first base. The Aztecs' final two runs came in the fifth on Alan Trejo's first home run of the season, a two-run shot that scored Brown, who had singled to begin the inning. That homer put SDSU up 11-1 and game ended after seven innings with a 10-run rule in effect for this year's conference tournament.
Erickson did the rest as he finished with the one run allowed on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts as he improved to 2-1 on the season.
In the opening game of the day for SDSU against Fresno State (31-28), a back-and-forth contest went the Aztecs' way in extra innings. Trailing 5-4 after six, they got a solo homer Sheehan in the seventh to tie it and went ahead, 6-5, in the eighth on an RBI single by Wylie. The Bulldogs, however, tied it up at 6-6 with a two-out run in the ninth.
In the bottom of the 10th, Brown led off with a walk and moved to second when Wylie's grounder to FSU pitcher Garret Mundell was thrown wide of second. Brown and Wylie moved up to second and third on Trejo's sacrifice bunt, after which the Bulldogs brought their center field in to play in front of second base as part of a drawn-in infield. Chase Calabuig then hit a grounder to the left of second with Brown beating the throw to the late to win the game for the Aztecs.
That run also made a winner of Aztec reliever CJ Saylor who evened his season record at 3-3.
San Diego State and New Mexico will now face off at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday (May 24) for the Mountain West Championship and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.