SAN DIEGO – Behind a combined 17 strikeouts, the San Diego State baseball team opened its 2019 season with an 8-4 win against San Francisco on Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Logan Boyer set a new career-high with 10 strikeouts in five innings. Justin Goossen-Brown and Daniel Ritcheson followed Boyer in relief and maintained SDSU's lead through the late stages, combining for four innings pitched with three hits and two runs allowed. Ritcheson struck out five of the 11 batters he faced.
The Aztecs (1-0) jumped to a 4-0 lead in the third inning, highlighted by a 2-RBI single by Julian Escobedo and a 2-RBI single by Joe Fitzhugh. The Dons opened their scoring with back-to-back home runs by Jack Winkler and Jonathan Allen in the fifth inning.
Escobedo led the Aztecs offensively, finishing a triple shy of the cycle in a 3-for-5 performance with a home run, a double, and a career-high five RBIs. Matt Rudick also posted a multi-hit showing, going 2-for-5 with a run scored.
Boyer (1-0) earned the win for the Aztecs, while San Francisco's Riley Ornido (0-1) was handed the loss after surrendering five runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Team Notes
· San Diego State has won its third consecutive season opener, good for the team's longest streak since winning each of its season openers from 2007-09.
· SDSU improved to 14-5 in season-opening weekends since the start of the 2013 season.
· SDSU improved to 6-3 all-time against USF and 13-7 (.650) against the West Coast Conference during the Mark Martinez era.
· SDSU improved to 38-4 in its last 42 games when scoring five or more runs.
· SDSU won its 86th consecutive game when leading after eight innings, its 22nd consecutive game when leading after seven innings, and its 18th consecutive game when leading after six innings.
· SDSU won its fifth consecutive non-conference regular season game.
· SDSU's 17 strikeouts mark as the most since SDSU struck out 24 at UNLV on April 19, 2013 (17-inning game). The 17 strikeouts also mark as the most in a nine-inning game since striking out 17 against Air Force on May 8, 2009.
Player Notes
Logan Boyer – 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K
Set new career-highs in innings pitched (5) and strikeouts (10)… First Aztec with a double-digit strikeout performance since Justin Goossen-Brown did so against Michigan on Feb. 26, 2018… During opening weekend in his career: 9.2 innings, 20 strikeouts, six hits, five earned runs, seven walks… Earned his second career win.
Julian Escobedo – 3-for-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBIs
Set a new career-high with five RBIs… Hit his first home run of the season and third of his career in the bottom of the fifth… Became the first Aztec since Jordan Verdon at UNLV on March 25, 2018 to record five or more RBIs in a game… Finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Head Coach Mark Martinez
"Great pitching performance out of our guys, I think we punched out 17 guys tonight. Offensively I thought we were aggressive, we struck out five times and walked six which is always a good sign. It was a good win and a great way to start the season."
UP NEXT
SDSU finishes their series against San Francisco with a doubleheader starting at 2:00 and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Baseball Powers Past San Francisco, 8-4
