April 25, 2017
UC Riverside scored five runs over the middle two innings to break a 2-2 deadlock as it went on to defeat San Diego State, 7-4, Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win provided a measure of revenge for the Highlanders, who had suffered a 10-1 setback at the hands of the Aztecs a week ago in Riverside.
As is typical for mid-week non-conference games, both sides used a number of pitchers with UCR utilizing seven hurlers to six by SDSU.
UC Riverside jumped on Aztec starter Jorge Fernandez for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning to grab a quick 2-0 lead. Those runs came on a single, triple and RBI fielder's choice.
San Diego State had little to cheer about over the first two innings as all it could muster was a walk against UCR starting pitcher Hazahel Quijada. Even the walk was rendered meaningless as it was erased on a double play.
The Aztecs finally got to Quijada in the bottom of the third inning, scoring twice to tie the contest at 2-2. After Julian Escobedo and David Hensley were hit by pitch and walked respectively, Alan Trejo singled home Escobedo with the first run and used a sacrifice bunt by Chase Calabuig to score Hensley from third to even the score.
Walks would become a major issue for SDSU pitchers during the fifth and sixth innings when the visitors scored total of five times. Three runs in the fifth came on one hit and four walks that were divided among three Aztec relievers. The first walk, surrendered by freshman Adrian Mardueno, would eventually score the go-ahead run and cause him to be saddled with the loss to even his record at 1-1.
The Highlanders added a pair for runs in the top of the sixth, this time on two walks, a wild pitch and a single against a pair of SDSU hurlers to make it a 7-2 contest.
The Aztecs were having little success on the offensive side as six pitchers held them to just four hits over the first eight frames. They did score a pair of consolation runs in the bottom of the ninth on singles by Hensley, Calabuig and Danny Sheehan along with a wild pitch for the final 7-4 score line.
Hensley ended the night with a pair of singles and two runs scored as he was the lone SDSU player to record more than one hit in the contest.
San Diego State will now prepare to resume Mountain West play when it hosts league-leader New Mexico for a three-game series this weekend. That set will start on Friday, April 28, with a contest slated to get underway at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.