March 13, 2018
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State baseball team took an 8-3 decision over San Diego at Fowler Park on Tuesday night, using a seven-run sixth inning to overcome an early 2-0 deficit and salvage a split of the season series against the Toreros. SDSU improves to 11-5 on the season, while San Diego slips to 9-8.
Facing a 2-0 hole heading into the sixth inning, the Aztecs broke out for its largest single-inning outburst of the season, scoring seven runs with the help of two hits, three walks, and three Torero errors.
Matt Rudick led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a David Hensley single. Chase Calabuig laid down a sacrifice bunt, however, Torero pitcher Anthony Donatella was off target with his throw to first base, allowing Rudick to score and Calabuig to reach safely. Chad Bible was hit by a pitch an at-bat later, and the game-determining blow came off the bat of Jordan Verdon, who missed a grand slam by just a few feet and settled for a two-RBI double off the centerfield wall to give the Aztecs a 3-2 lead.
Dean Nevarez brought Chad Bible on a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 4-2. To cap the offensive showing in the sixth, Verdon scored on a wild pitch, Julian Escobedo scored on an error by USD second baseman Paul Kunst, and Jacob Maekawa crossed the plate while Rudick was hung up between first and second on a stolen base attempt.
The sixth inning provided the Aztecs with more than enough offense but SDSU built its lead to 9-3 thanks to a Nevarez RBI double in the seventh and an Escobedo sacrifice fly in the ninth.
The Toreros presented a bit of a threat in the ninth, however, SDSU turned to Jorge Fernandez, who induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded to secure SDSU's 9-3 victory.
Daniel Ritcheson earned his first collegiate win with two innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run on one hit with a strikeout.
SDSU's 4-5-6 hitters in Bible, Verdon and Nevarez combined to go 6-for-12 (2-for-4 each). Verdon and Nevarez each drove in a pair of runs and had one double.
NOTES
- San Diego State's seven runs scored in the sixth inning is the most its scored this season and the most scored since scoring 10 in the first inning against Fresno State in the Mountain West tournament on May 25, 2017.
- San Diego State is 7-1 all-time at USD's Fowler Park and have outscored the Toreros 47-20 in those games.
- SDSU is 10-5 in its last 15 meetings against crosstown foe USD.
- Chad Bible logged his fifth multi-hit performance in his last seven games and is hitting .462 (12-for-26) over that span.
- San Diego State has won 59 consecutive games when leading after eight innings, 29 consecutive games when leading after seven, 18 consecutive games when scoring five or more runs, and 17 consecutive games when leading after six innings.
UP NEXT
San Diego State makes the trip to Central California for a three-game weekend series at Cal Poly starting Friday at 6:00 p.m.