April 28, 2017
San Diego State got some excellent pitching and took advantage of scoring opportunities as it defeated New Mexico, 4-0, in the opener of the teams' three-game series Friday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
SDSU left-hander Brett Seeburger tossed 7.1 innings, scattering three hits with three walks and six strikeouts. The Lobos had two men on base in the same inning only once against the senior from Oceanside, Calif., with only one runner reaching as far as second base against him. The effort earned him the victory as he improved to 8-1 while lowering his earned run average to 2.98.
Seeburger was locked in a pitchers' duel over the first six frames with New Mexico's Tyler Stevens. The lone run over that span came in the bottom of the third when Aztec center fielder Julian Escobedo singled, stole second and scored on Alan Trejo's single to right.
The hit was the second of three on the night for Trejo, who had opened the contest with a double and later added a single in the bottom of the eighth.
San Diego State added an insurance run against Stevens in its half of the seventh as Dean Nevarez drew a two-out walk, advanced to second on a single to right by David Hensley and came home on Andrew Martinez's RBI base hit to left to make it 2-0.
Tyler, who pitched into the eighth inning, would eventually be charged with three runs on eight hits. He walked only one and recorded seven strikeouts, but took the loss to see his record fall to 6-4 on the year.
After getting the first out in the top of the eighth, Seeburger gave way to Jorge Fernandez, who recorded a strikeout before being lifted in favor of Jacob Erickson, who also got a strikeout to end the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, SDSU scored twice, taking advantage of one hit against Tyler followed by three walks, a passed ball and three wild pitches by Lobo freshman reliever Justin Slaten that upped SDSU's lead to 4-0.
The final inning began with a leadoff double by UNM's Jack Zoellner that brought Aztec closer CJ Saylor out of the bullpen. After walking the first man he faced to put Lobos at first and second, Saylor got a fly ball to center followed by a double play grounder to second to end the contest.
San Diego State and New Mexico will continue their weekend series on Saturday (April 29) with a game slated to start at 2:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The contest will be part of a First Responders Appreciation Day honoring police, fire department and emergency medical personnel with pre-game ceremonies set to begin at 1:40 p.m.