April 22, 2017
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - San Diego State rallied for five runs in the seventh inning to overturn a 5-0 deficit only to see UC Santa Barbara score once in the bottom of the same frame and hold on for the 6-5 victory over the Aztecs Saturday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara.
With the win, the Gauchos evened the weekend series at a game apiece as they improved to 17-19 on the year. The loss, meanwhile, saw the end of a four-game win streak for SDSU, which saw its record drop to 28-12.
The Aztecs were without the services of second baseman Alan Trejo, who was serving a suspension after being ejected in Friday's contest, and left fielder Tyler Adkison, who was ill.
UC Santa Barbara built its 5-0 lead with a run in the second and two in both the fourth and sixth frames. Those markers came against Aztec starter Dominic Purpura, who would go 6.1 innings eventually allowing six runs on 10 hits with no walks and six strikeouts, the latter total matching his career best as an Aztec. He would suffer the loss, his first of the season, to drop his record to 6-1.
San Diego State's seventh inning rally started with a one-out single by David Hensley, who moved to third on an ensuing double to left by Andrew Martinez. After a second out, freshman Jacob Maekawa singled through the left side to score Hensley. Andrew Brown followed with an RBI single to bring home Martinez to make it a 5-2 contest.
Shortstop Danny Sheehan then stepped up and deposited a pitch over the left field fence to bring in three runs and tie the contest at 5-5.
The Gauchos, however, would spoil the SDSU comeback by scoring a run in the bottom of the same frame. That run came on a single and sacrifice bunt which ended Purpura's day in favor of reliever Jacob Erickson, who retired the first man he faced before surrendering a two-out RBI single as the home side regained the lead at 6-5.
SDSU put runners on base in each of the final two innings, but were unable to score against Gaucho closer Shea Barry, who tossed the final two frames to record his second save of the year. Barry had come on in relief of starter Kyle Nelson, who went the first seven innings and claimed the victory to move his record to 5-3.
Hensley (run scored) led the Aztecs with three hits on the day while Brown (RBI, run scored) finished with a pair of singles.
San Diego state and UC Santa Barbara will play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday (April 23) in a contest scheduled to get underway at 1:00 p.m. PT in Santa Barbara. The Aztecs will then return home to host UC Riverside on Tuesday, April 25, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.