CORVALLIS, Ore. – Behind seven dominant innings from Aztec reliever Adrian Mardueno, the San Diego State baseball team defeated defending national champion and No. 6/7-ranked Oregon State 4-3 at Goss Stadium on Tuesday night. The Aztecs improve to 16-12 on the year while the Beavers fall to 19-6-1.
Mardueno was nearly perfect for the duration of his outing, allowing just two hits and one walk over his seven innings of relief. Mardueno, who retired 21 of the 24 Beaver batters he faced, recorded six strikeouts.
Mardueno's seven innings pitched set a new career-high, while his six strikeouts is just one shy of his career-high of seven which he set on March 15 against Seattle.
Mardueno's biggest spot came upon entering the game, as Upland, Calif. product entered the third inning with a bases-loaded, no-out situation. Mardueno struck out George Mendazona, the first batter he faced, before forcing Troy Claunch into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to end the threat and keep it a 3-2 Aztec deficit.
The reliever appeared to get stronger as the game went on, as Mardueno finished with just one hit allowed over his final 4.2 innings pitched. The one hit was a two-out double by Beau Philip in the ninth inning, which was left stranded after Mardueno induced a game-ending Greg Fuchs groundout to first.
The Aztecs scored their first pair of runs early, as a Joe Fitzhugh sacrifice fly scored Angelo Armenta in the first inning. The Aztecs extended their lead to 2-0 with Mike Jarvis' second home run of the year in the top of the second.
The Beavers scored all three of their runs in the second, as a defensively misplayed ball allowed a two-out Jake Harvey RBI double. The Beavers made the most of the Aztec miscue, scoring an additional two runs in the second to take a 3-2 lead.
The Aztecs reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth, with Casey Schmitt recording a game-tying RBI single to score Matt Rudick just before Joe Fitzhugh ripped a ball into the right-centerfield gap to score Schmitt for the go-ahead run.
Each of SDSU's top three hitters recorded two hits apiece, including Rudick (2-for-5), Armenta (2-for-4) and Schmitt (2-for-4). Rudick extended his career-best hitting streak to 20 games.
Brian Leonhardt made his second start of the season on the mound, allowing three runs that came after the misplayed ball second-inning. The freshman allowed six hits, three walks, and struck out the side in order all looking in the bottom of the first inning.
Oregon State's Sam Tweedt was handed the loss, allowing four runs on six hits in 4.2 innings pitched.
NOTES
- SDSU improves to 7-1 in its last 12 games and has won four straight against the Pac-12. Over that span, SDSU has won five one-run games.
- SDSU's win against No. 6/7 Oregon State is tied for the program's highest-ranked win since defeating No. 5 San Diego 15-2 on Feb. 23, 2008. The Beavers were also ranked No. 7 when SDSU beat Oregon State 6-5 in Corvallis on March 28, 2016.
- Since 2015, SDSU improves to 6-7 against teams that played in the College World Series the year prior.
- SDSU is 2-2 this season against nationally ranked teams.
- SDSU improves to 7-3 when hitting a home run and 11-3 (eight consecutive wins) when out-hitting their opponent.
- SDSU improves to 27-13 in their last 40 one-run games.
UP NEXT
SDSU looks to complete a two-game midweek sweep of Oregon State tomorrow evening, with first pitch scheduled for 5:35 p.m. The game will air on Pac-12 Plus.
Baseball Takes Down No. 6/7 Oregon State, 4-3
