March 27, 2018
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The No. 23/23 San Diego State baseball team improved to 17-7 on the year after defeating Long Beach State, 5-2, at Blair Field on Tuesday night. The Aztecs are now 8-2 in its last 10 games while Long Beach State falls to 10-15 on the 2018 campaign.
Justin Goossen-Brown made the midweek start for the Aztecs and performed well, allowing just one hit over 3.1 innings of work. Goossen-Brown struck out three, walked one, and retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced.
The Aztecs posted a three-spot in the top of the fourth to break a scoreless tie. David Hensley led off the frame with a single through the left side of the infield and advanced to second an at bat later after a Chase Calabuig sacrifice bunt. Later in the inning after a Jordan Verdon walk, Dean Nevarez ripped a 2-RBI double to the right-centerfield gap to make it a 2-0 ballgame. A batter later, Julian Escobedo singled to bring home Nevarez and make it a 3-0 Aztec advantage.
Adrian Mardueno improved to 3-0 on the year after pitching 1.1 innings of shutout, hitless relief, which included stranding a pair of inherited runners in the fifth inning.
SDSU recorded a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth with Escobedo's second and third RBIs of the day as the sophomore brought home Verdon and Chad Bible on a hard-hit line drive double to right field.
LBSU had several offensive threats, especially late in the contest, but struggled with hitting with runners in scoring position, going just 2-for-11 in that situation. The Dirtbags loaded the bases against SDSU reliever Casey Schmitt in the eighth, but the freshman held the Dirtbags scoreless for the frame, forcing an inning-ending fly out to strand a trio of LBSU runners.
Jorge Fernandez came on in the ninth and allowed just one baserunner in a scoreless frame to secure SDSU's third consecutive win.
NOTES
- SDSU is 20-6 against Big West teams since the start of the 2017 season.
- SDSU is 8-2 in its last 10 games.
- The Aztecs are 7-5 in its last 12 games against Long Beach State.
- Jordan Verdon extended his team-high on-base streak to 21 games and his team-best hitting streak to 10 games.
- Chase Calabuig and Julian Escobedo both extended their hitting streaks to eight games.
- Over his current eight-game hitting streak, Julian Escobedo is hitting .531 (17-for-32) with a home run, nine RBIs, and three doubles.
- David Hensley extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
- The Aztecs won its 24th consecutive game when scoring five or more runs and its 64th consecutive game when leading after eight innings.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs begin a three-game Mountain West series with New Mexico on Thursday. First pitch between the Aztecs and Lobos is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.