May 19, 2017
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State broke open a tight contest with a five-run sixth inning and went on to defeat Fresno State, 13-3, Friday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
With the victory, the Aztecs improved to 38-17 overall and 20-9 in the Mountain West as they passed New Mexico for first place in the league standings with one game remaining. A first-place finish would mean that SDSU would host next week's conference tournament on its home field.
The victory also marked the 100th win for Mark Martinez as San Diego State's head coach. He is the first head coach in program history to record 100 wins in his first three seasons at the helm.
The contest started rather inauspiciously for SDSU as Fresno State (30-23, 17-12) put a pair of runs on the board in the top of the first inning against Aztec senior lefty Brett Seeburger. The rally was aided by a pair of infield singles on softly hit balls to first and shortstop.
After spotting the visitors the 2-0 lead, Seeburger was stellar over the ensuing seven innings. He did not allow another hit until the sixth inning and ended his night after the eighth having surrendered a total of three runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and 10 strikeouts. His strikeout total equaled his SDSU career high as he picked up the win to improve to 10-2 on the year.
The Aztecs got back into the game quickly with a run in the bottom of the first to halve the Bulldog lead to 2-1. Alan Trejo reached on a throwing error by FSU third baseman Jesse Medrano and advanced to second. Chase Calabuig then singled to right center to drive Trejo homer.
SDSU took the lead for good in the bottom of the third as a walk to Jordan Verdon and double by Andrew Brown set the table for an RBI single by Trejo and an RBI grounder to shortstop by Danny Sheehan to give the Aztecs a 3-2 advantage.
The Aztec added a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Dean Nevarez, then took control of the contest with the five-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth. SDSU loaded the bases with no outs on a double by Andrew Martinez, single by Nevarez and walk to Verdon.
The Bulldogs called on Ryan Jensen in relief, and the freshman right-hander struck out the next two batters before issuing RBI walks to Calabuig and Sheehan. Tyler Adkison then stepped up and delivered a double to right center that cleared the bases and gave SDSU a 9-3 lead.
The Aztecs added three more in the seventh on a two-run homer by Nevarez and RBI single by Trejo plus another in the eighth on three consecutive singles, the last by David Hensley to drive in Sheehan from second base.
Eight members of the starting lineup had at least one hit in the contest and eight of nine also scored. Nevarez (HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored) and Martinez (2B, 2 runs scored) ended the night with three hits apiece as SDSU finished with 17 in the game.
San Diego State and Fresno State will play the rubber game of the three-game series on Saturday (May 20) at 1:00 p.m. PT at Tony Gwynn Stadium. It will be Senior Day at the ball park as the Aztecs will honor eight seniors who are concluding the collegiate careers this season. Those ceremonies will get underway at 12:50 p.m.