March 14, 2017
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State took the lead on the first pitch of the game and never looked back as it defeated No. 25 University of San Diego, 10-1, Tuesday evening at Fowler Park.
With the win the Aztecs improved to 11-6 on the season while the Toreros saw the end of a four-game win streak with their record settling in at 10-4. USD came into the contest ranked No. 25 by D1Baseball.com and just outside the Collegiate Baseball Top 25 (26th) this week.
San Diego State jumped on Torero starter Louis Crow quickly as Alan Trejo sent his first pitch of the contest over the left field fence to give the Aztecs a 1-0 lead. Two outs later, Jordan Verdon equaled Trejo's feat with his long ball down the right field line to make it 2-0.
In the top of the third, Andrew Brown's double to left was followed by Danny Sheehan's RBI single to add a run to SDSU's total.
In the next frame, Tyler Adkison joined the home run parade as he sent a ball to dead center field to give the Aztecs a 4-0 lead. They added another run in the same frame on a double by Chase Calabuig and RBI single by Brown.
On the mound, meanwhile, SDSU starter Jorge Fernandez went 3.2 innings, working his way out of trouble in three of the four frames he tossed. USD's best chance to get back into the contest came in the bottom of the fourth when it loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of singles and a walk.
Torero third baseman Aidan Stinnett then lined a ball down the third base line that Brown was able to grab and double the runner off third. That would mark the end of the evening for Fernandez, who had surrendered four hits and four walks with a strikeout in just under four innings.
Junior left Jacob Erickson came in from the bullpen and got a ground out to first to end the USD threat. Erickson would toss the middle three innings, facing 10 batters and allowing a lone single. He would be credited with the win to improve to 2-1 on the year.
San Diego State extended its lead to 7-0 in the top of the sixth on RBI singles by Brown and Verdon.
The Toreros ended the Aztecs' shutout bid in their half of the eight on a home run by catcher Riley Adams that came against reliever Alan Trejo.
SDSU, however, responded to that hit with three runs in its final at bat on five hits including run-scoring singles by Ryan Orr and Calabuig plus an RBI double by Trejo.
San Diego State's 18-hit attack was paced by three hits apiece from Trejo (double, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored), Brown (double, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored), Verdon (HR, 2 RBI, run scored) and Adkison (HR, RBI, 2 runs scored).
San Diego State will now prepare to resume league play when it hosts UNLV for a three-game series this weekend. The first contest of that set is scheduled for Friday, March 17, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.