April 1, 2017
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State came from two runs down with a five-run outburst in the fourth inning and went on to defeat visiting San Jose State, 7-3, Saturday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
With the victory, the Aztecs improved to 18-9 overall and 8-3 in the Mountain West as they remain in second place in the conference standings. The Spartans, meanwhile, saw their record drop to 10-6 (5-4 MW).
SDSU got a solid pitching performance from senior Dominic Purpura, who turned in the Aztecs' first complete-game effort of the 2017 campaign. The left-hander tossed nine innings allowing three runs (one earned) on nine hits with a walk and two strikeouts as he moved his record to 5-0 on the season.
The Aztecs found themselves down, 2-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth as the Spartans struck for single runs in both the second and fourth frames.
Although SDSU had at least one man on in each of the first three innings against SJSU starter Matt Brown, they were unable to break through on the scoreboard. That all changed in bottom of the fourth.
With one out, Chase Calabuig and Ryan Orr were hit by pitch and sacrificed to second and third receptively by Julian Escobedo. Alan Trejo walked to load the bases before Andrew Brown tied the contest with an infield single that Spartan third baseman David Campbell threw away in a vain attempt to get Brown at first. The play allowed Calabuig and Orr to score and put Aztecs at second and third.
Danny Sheehan then singled through the left side to bring home both runners and give SDSU a 4-2 lead. The Aztec shortstop stole second and in turn scored on Jordan Verdon's base hit up the middle to make it 5-2.
The rally seemed to invigorate Purpura, who retired the side in order in the fifth before working out of a jam in the sixth when the visitors put runners at second and third with two out.
The Aztecs added a pair of insurance runs in their half of the sixth when Trejo led off with a single and went to third on Brown's hit up the middle. After the latter stole second, sacrifice flies by Sheehan and Verdon put SDSU up 7-2.
The Spartan's final run came in the top of the eighth when a base hit to center got past Escobedo and went to the wall to put a runner at third to open the frame. A sacrifice fly allowed SJSU to add the late consolation run.
Brown (RBI, two runs scored) and Verdon (2 RBI) both ended the afternoon with two hits while Sheehan was responsible for three RBI with his single and sac fly. Trejo's single in the sixth extended his current hitting streak to 18 game.
San Diego State and San Jose State will conclude their weekend series with a game on Sunday (April 2) scheduled to get underway at 1:00 p.m. PT at Tony Gwynn Stadium.