RENO, Nev. – San Diego State suffered a 9-3 loss to UNLV in its first-round Mountain West Championships contest at Peccole Park on Thursday afternoon. SDSU, now 32-24 on the season, will face the loser of No. 1 seed Fresno State and No. 4 seed Nevada at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow in an elimination game.
UNLV posted a five-run second inning featuring a Dillon Johnson grand slam to jump out to a quick 5-0 lead. The Aztecs, meanwhile, ran into some tough luck in both the first and second innings, as a well-hit line drive by Mike Jarvis was caught by Edarian Williams and erased a Matt Rudick leadoff single after Williams doubled Rudick off at second.
An inning later, Ryan Orr hit a line drive with the bases loaded that had an opportunity to be extra-bases down the right-field line, but was caught by Rebel first baseman Austin Pfeifer and turned into a double play with his momentum carrying him towards first base.
The Rebels extended the lead to 7-0 with a Jack Thomas Wold leadoff home run and a Pfeifer RBI single in the top of the fifth.
Mike Jarvis but SDSU on the scoreboard in the sixth, hitting his fifth home run of the season to cut the deficit to 7-1. The Rebels responded with a pair of runs in the seventh after Rebel catcher Jacob Godman hit a 2-RBI single to stretch the lead to 9-1.
The Aztecs did not go down quietly in the ninth as Chad Bible his team-leading seventh home run of the season and Deron Johnson hit a ground-rule double before later scoring on a Jacob Cruce RBI single.
Bible reached base three times in a 2-for-3 day, while Jarvis contributed a 2-for-4 showing at the plate.
Justin Goossen-Brown suffered the loss for SDSU, allowing nine hits and six earned runs in six innings pitched. UNLV's Ryan Hare earned the win, allowing one run on seven hits and three walks over eight innings pitched.
Out of the bullpen, Daniel Ritcheson allowed two runs on two hits and three walks in three innings of relief.
NOTES
- San Diego State had a four-game winning streak in the Mountain West Championships snapped. The streak was SDSU's longest since winning seven in a row from 2016-17.
- San Diego State and UNLV combined for eight double plays turned, a new Mountain West Championships record. Both SDSU and UNLV entered the game No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation in double plays turned, and the eight twin-killings is three more than the previous Mountain West single game-high this season.
- With the loss, SDSU will play in an elimination game tomorrow. Since 2012, the Aztecs are 16-2 in the Mountain West Championships when facing elimination.
- San Diego State enters tomorrow with a 7-0 record since 2012 in games following a loss in the Mountain West Championships.
- San Diego State falls to 23-7 in the Mountain West Championships since 2013.
- San Diego State falls to 18-5 in the Mountain West Championships when playing as the No. 2 seed.
- In 2015, the last time the Mountain West Championships were hosted in Reno, Nevada, the No. 2-seeded Aztecs lost their opener against No. 3 seed Fresno State, 15-7. From there, the Aztecs proceeded to win five consecutive games by a combined score of 41-20 to clinch the 2015 Mountain West title.
- Mike Jarvis extended his hitting streak to seven games. Over his last seven games, Jarvis is hitting a team-best .500 (13-for-26).
- San Diego State did not strike out in a game for the first time since May 21, 2016, against San Jose State.
UP NEXT
San Diego State will play the loser of No. 1 seed Fresno State and No. 4 seed Nevada (6:00 p.m. start tonight) in an elimination game tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
Baseball Falls to UNLV in MW Champs First Round
