SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State baseball team was unable to finish a three-game sweep of Nevada after a 6-5 loss against the Wolf Pack on Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs are now 7-7 this season, while the Wolf Pack up their 2019 record to 8-6.
The Aztecs held a 3-2 lead heading into the ninth inning, but a Tyler Bosetti RBI and a Daniel Perry RBI single pushed the Wolf Pack ahead, 4-3. The Aztecs immediately responded in the bottom half of the ninth, with Brian Leonhardt singling home Matt Rudick to push the game into extra innings.
After Leonhardt's game-tying single, the Aztecs came mere inches from winning in walk-off fashion, as a ball off the bat of Jaden Fein was headed for the ground in shallow centerfield, but was snagged by shortstop Wyatt Tilley on a full-extension catch to prevent Angelo Armenta from scoring from third base.
The Wolf Pack struck for four hits in the 10th, taking a 6-4 lead after Bosetti recorded his second late-stage RBI of the game to create a two-run cushion.
In the home half of the 10th, David Alamillo kick-started the last-chance comeback attempt with a single through the right side of the infield. A Casey Schmitt single later pushed Alamillo to second, and with two down in the frame, Rudick singled home Alamillo to cut the deficit to just 6-5 while advancing Schmitt to third.
Unfortunately for SDSU, Nevada reliever Grant Ford struck out Julian Escobedo in a six-pitch at-bat to leave Schmitt – the potential game-tying run – stranded at third to end the game.
SDSU scored its first three runs from an opposite-field home run by Chad Bible in the second and a two-run home run by Schmitt in the fourth. Both long balls marked as their first of the season.
Schmitt (3-for-4), Bible (2-for-4), Rudick (2-for-5) and Armenta (2-for-3) all contributed multi-hit performances in the loss.
On the mound Aztec starter Aaron Eden made his third consecutive impressive start for the Aztecs, recording seven strikeouts in five innings while only allowing two runs.
Both Adrian Mardueno (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K) and Michael Paredes (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K) maintained their respective perfect 0.00 ERA with strong late-inning relief performances. Aztec pitching posted their ninth double-digit strikeout performance of the season after striking out 12 Wolf Pack batters on Sunday.
Schmitt (0-2) was dealt the loss while Nevada's Bradley Bonnenfant (2-1) earned the win after pitching 1.2 innings, allowing two hits and one run.
UP NEXT
SDSU will travel up the coast to face CSUN on Tuesday, March 12 at 3:00 p.m.
Baseball Falls in Extra Innings to Nevada, 6-5
