March 1, 2016
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State wasted a stellar pitching performance by starter Harrison Pyatt as the University of San Diego rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth inning to overtake and defeat the Aztecs, 4-2, Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The loss was the fifth straight for SDSU, which saw its record fall to 1-8 on the season. USD, meanwhile, moved its record to the .500 mark at 4-4.
Pyatt, a redshirt freshman from Corona, Calif., completely shut down the Torero offense over the first six innings. Over that stretch he allowed just one hit, a single in the opening frame, while walking three and striking out seven. He also saw his teammates give him a two-run lead to work with.
SDSU opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth as Chase Calabuig singled to open the inning, advance to second on an Andrew Brown's sacrifice bunt, take third on a wild pitch and score on Spencer Thornton's sac fly to center.
The Aztecs made it 2-0 one inning later when Jordan Verdon walked, stole second and came home on CJ Saylor's two-out RBI single to right.
With Pyatt departing the contest after six innings, relievers Marcus Reyes and Dominic Purpura set the Toreros down in order in both the seventh and eighth.
But it was a different story in the top of the ninth as four other SDSU pitchers surrendered four runs on four hits with an Aztec error contributing to the final marker.
USD's Jonathan Teaney (1-0) was the beneficiary of his team's late offensive outburst as he was credited with the victory after tossing the final two frames. SDSU's Jacob Erickson took the loss to fall to 0-2.
San Diego State out-hit USD, 8-5, as it got two hits apiece from Saylor, Calabuig and Alan Trejo.
The Aztecs will now prepare to open their 2016 Mountain West conference season by hosting a three-game series against Fresno State that gets underway on Friday, March 4, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.