April 21, 2017
Jordan Verdon singled in the game-winning run in the top of the ninth and Chase Calabuig drove in an insurance run as San Diego State rallied to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 5-3, Friday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The runs broke a 3-3 deadlock and sent SDSU on the way to its 12th win in its last 14 contests.
The Aztecs (28-11) took the early lead with a run in the top of the second inning as Tyler Adkison singled, stole second and scored on Julian Escobedo's two-out RBI single up the middle.
The visitors added two more in the fifth, aided by a Gaucho miscue on a potential inning-ending ground ball. Alan Trejo singled with one out before Andrew Brown's grounder was booted by UCSB second baseman Colton Burns. After the second out, Verdon drove home Trejo with a base hit through the right side with Brown taking third. Adkison then singled to center field to bring home Brown and give the Aztecs a 3-0 lead.
On the mound, meanwhile, Aztec starter Jorge Fernandez was holding the Gauchos to just one hit over the first four innings, but also surrendered three walks. He was lifted after the fourth inning in favor of senior lefty Marcus Reyes, and despite not allowing a run, would not be involved in the decision.
UC Santa Barbara (16-19) would come back to score a run in its half of the fifth and two in the ensuing frame to tie the contest at 3-3. Those runs came against Reyes, who was the victim of some erratic play by the usually solid Aztec defense that committed two errors in the fifth and two more in the sixth that led to all three Gaucho runs being unearned.
The game remained tied over the next two frames until San Diego State regained the lead in the top of the final inning. A one-out walk to Brown and single by Danny Sheehan put Aztecs at first and second. Verdon then stepped up and lashed a single up the middle to score Brown and give SDSU the 4-3 advantage. Adkison's infield single loaded the bases after which Calabuig delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to drive home Sheehan with the insurance marker.
Aztec junior lefty Jacob Erickson, who pitched the eighth inning, was the beneficiary of the rally as he would be credited with the victory to improve to 5-2 on the year.
Closer CJ Saylor came on in the bottom of the ninth, and after surrendering a leadoff single, retired the next three batters on routine fly balls to secure the win. In the process, he recorded his 10th save of the season.
Sheehan (run scored) and Adkison (RBI, run scored) ended the contest with three hits apiece while Verdon had two singles and a pair of RBI. Catcher Dean Nevarez also had two hits including a double as SDSU finished the day with 14 hits.
San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara will continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday (April 22) with a game scheduled to get underway at 2:00 p.m. PT in Santa Barbara.