Feb. 26, 2016
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - For the second consecutive night San Diego State fell behind by a significant margin early and was unable to complete a comeback as it dropped a 10-2 decision to Bryant on the opening day of the 2016 Tony Gwynn Classic. With the victory the Bulldogs remained perfect at 5-0 while the Aztecs' record fell to 1-5.
Bryant opened the contest with a run against the usually reliable Marcus Reyes in the top of the first, then exploded for five more on three doubles, two walks and a hit batter in the second to take a 6-0 lead.
Reyes would work into the fifth inning, but would depart with one out in the frame. His final line read 4.1 innings pitched allowing seven runs, eight hits, two walks and three strikeouts. He would absorb the loss to fall to 0-1 on the year.
Trailing by seven, San Diego State got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out double by Dean Nevarez and an ensuing RBI double by catcher Hunter Stratton.
The Aztecs added a second run one inning later when Justin Wylie walked, went to third on a single by Spencer Thornton and scored on a balk by Bryant starting pitcher James Karinchak.
It was one of few miscues by Karinchak on the evening as the sophomore right-hander tossed six innings allowing the two runs on five hits while walking one and striking out six. The performance was enough to earn him the win as he improved to 2-0.
The 7-2 score after six innings marked an end to SDSU's comeback attempt as the Bulldogs tacked on a run in the seventh on a single and double, then added two more in the final frame on three consecutive hits. They recorded a total of eight doubles on the night including four by left fielder AJ Zarozny.
Bryant reliever Justin Snyder, who came on to toss the final three innings, allowed a lone hit and walk while recording five strikeouts to pick up his second save.
Freshman Dean Nevarez was the lone Aztec with more than one hit on the night as he recorded a single, double and run scored.
Up next for San Diego State is a contest against No. 2 Kentucky on Saturday (Feb. 27) at 6:00 p.m. That will be preceded by a contest between Bryant and UC Santa Barbara, which downed Kentucky 11-4 earlier Saturday, at 1:00 p.m.