Feb. 28, 2016
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Arizona scored five times in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 deadlock and went on to defeat San Diego State, 7-3, Sunday afternoon in the final game of the 2016 Tony Gwynn Classic. The final score was not indicative of the closeness of the contest over the first seven-plus innings.
Arizona (4-3), the designated home team in the game, got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first as a leadoff triple by Cody Ramer was turned into a run by Louis Boyd's sacrifice fly.
The run came off Aztec starter Brett Seeburger, who would go 5.1 innings allowing four hits with a walk and two strikeouts. The lefty would not, however, be around at the end of the contest to be involved in the decision. His effort on the afternoon was enough to earn him all-tournament recognition.
San Diego State (1-7) came back to tie the contest with a run in the top of the fourth on a two-out RBI single by freshman Dean Nevarez. One inning later the Aztecs took the lead when Spencer Thornton's RBI single score Alan Trejo from third base to make it a 2-1 game.
SDSU spurned a chance to up its lead in the top of the seventh with Trejo led off with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball and took third on wild pitch, all with no outs. That brought reliever Kevin Ginkel in from the Wildcat bullpen and he proceeded to get a pair of strikeouts and fly out to end the threat.
Arizona tied the contest at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh with a walk and RBI double that came with Aztec senior Brian Heldman on the mound.
SDSU put two men on with one out in its half of the eighth, but came up empty to set the stage for the Wildcats' winning rally in the bottom of the frame.
UA combined three singles, a double, triple, a base on balls and an Aztec error to put five runs on the board in its half of the eighth to go up 7-2. Junior right-hander Mike Diamond was on the mound to start that inning and would take the loss to fall to 0-2 on the year.
SDSU got a consolation run in its final at bat as Andrew Brown's double to left drove home Justin Wylie, who had singled with one out. Brown and Thornton ended the afternoon with two hits and one RBI apiece for the Aztecs while Tyler Adkison also had a pair of hits and scored once.
San Diego State will next be in action on Tuesday, Mar. 1, when the University of San Diego visits Tony Gwynn Stadium for a game scheduled to get underway at 6:00 p.m.