May 25, 2017
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In a contest played with a consistent 27 mph wind blowing out to right field, San Diego State was able to generate more offense than Fresno State as it defeated the Bulldogs, 18-10, in Thursday's opening game of the Mountain West Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M.
With the win, the Aztecs improve to 39-18 on the year and will face the winner of tonight's Nevada-New Mexico game tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. MT.
The loss dropped Fresno State's season mark to 32-24 and it will face an elimination game on Friday when it meets the loser of the UNM-Nevada contest at 3:00 p.m. MT.
With the win conditions as they were, it was apparent that the FSU-SDSU game would not lack for run production. That assumption was proved correct when the Bulldogs got a home run and back-to-back doubles in the top of the opening inning to jump out to a 2-0 lead.
The Aztecs, however, answered by jumping on Fresno State starter Ricky Tyler Thomas for 10 runs in the bottom of the same inning. Thomas had shut out SDSU on three hits over 6.2 innings in FSU's win when the teams met in San Diego a week ago. In this game however, he would be tagged for 10 runs on seven hits, three walks and a hit batter without recording an out before departing the game in the first frame.
In that bottom of the first, San Diego State sent 11 men to the plate before an out was recorded as every player in the lineup scored in his first plate appearance with Alan Trejo coming home twice. Tyler Adkison's bases-loaded single scored the first two runs to tie the game and two batters later Andrew Martinez deposited a Thomas pitch over the right field fence for a three-run homer.
Martinez would finish the day with a pair of doubles along with the home run and five RBI. Jordan Verdon also had a home run among his three hits with three RBI and David Hensley recorded three singles, scored twice and drove in a pair.
In addition, Tyler Adkison had a pair of hits including a home run with four RBI and three runs scored. The homer was his 15th of the season, the most by an Aztec since Alex Pelaez hit 16 during the 1998 campaign.
SDSU's 10-2 lead didn't last long as the Bulldogs scored four times over the next two innings to close to within 10-6. Those runs came against Aztec senior left-hander Dominic Purpura, who would depart after the third inning in favor of another senior lefty, Marcus Reyes. Purpura ended his afternoon with the six runs allowed on seven hits as he did not walk a batter while striking out four.
Reyes would end up going 3.2 innings over the middle portion of the contest, surrendering four runs on eight hits. He proved effective, however, as Fresno State was never able to get to get closer than four runs from the third inning onward.
Reyes would eventually be credited with the victory as he improved to 4-2 on the year. Junior Jorge Fernandez would toss the final 2.1 innings as he held the Bulldogs scoreless over that period on one hit while striking out one.
Although the Bulldogs ended the game with a tournament-tying five home runs, four of those were solo shots and the other a two-run homer while SDSU's three long balls (Martinez, Verdon, Adkison) accounted for six runs.
The Aztecs now await the winner of the Nevada-New Mexico game that got underway at 7:00 p.m. MT this evening.