May 3, 2016
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State overcame an early two-run deficit with some solid pitching and timely hitting in a 7-2 victory over No. 17 Cal State Fullerton Tuesday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Aztecs, who improved to 13-32 on the year. It also ended a run of nine consecutive Titan wins in the series dating back to 2009.
Both teams came into the contest expecting to utilize a number of pitchers, and each side ended up sending six hurlers to the mound.
The Titans opened the game by scoring single runs in both the first and second innings against SDSU starter Dominic Purpura and reliever Dalton Douty to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead.
The Aztecs were determined to show that they were a better offensive team than they demonstrated in last month's 8-1 loss in Fullerton, and they responded by taking the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third
Denz'l Chapman led off the inning with a triple, and after a walk to Justin Wylie and infield single by Chase Calabuig loaded the bases, Chapman scored on Alan Trejo's sacrifice fly to right. Spencer Thornton then drive a two-run triple to right center to bring home Wylie and Calabuig to give SDSU a lead it would not relinquish. Thornton would score on a wild pitch to give the home team a 4-2 advantage.
The Aztecs would add a run in the next frame on another bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Trejo and then finished off the scoring by plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Those final two markers came on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Chapman and a bases-loaded hit by pitch to Chase Calabuig.
Junior left-hander Marcus Reyes, who had come on to start the third inning, tossed three shutout innings surrendering one hit with two walks and two strikeouts. His effort earned him the victory to move his record to 1-4.
The pitching trio of Mike Diamond (two innings) along with Jacob Erickson and Chris Collins (one inning each) held the Titans scoreless over the final four innings allowing just one hit and a walk with five strikeouts.
Four Aztecs ended the evening with two hits apiece including Chapman (single, triple, RBI, run scored) and Thornton (single, triple, 2 RBI, two runs scored) plus Calabuig (RBI, run scored) and Tyler Adkison.
San Diego State will now prepare to hit the road for a three-game Mountain West road series at Fresno State this coming weekend. That set gets underway on Friday, May 6, at 6:00 p.m. at FSU's Beiden Field.