SAN DIEGO – Buoyed by Wyatt Hendrie's career-high six RBIs, San Diego State rallied for a big 15-7 victory over Nevada in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, before falling in the nightcap by a 10-6 count.
Despite the split, the Aztecs (17-7, 12-5 MW) still maintain their perch atop the Mountain West standings and will be looking to capture their eighth consecutive series to open the season when they battle the Wolf Pack (9-13, 6-8 MW) on Sunday in the rubber game of the weekend set at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
In Saturday's game one, SDSU found itself looking down the barrel of a 6-2 deficit before Hendrie smacked his first collegiate grand slam in the fourth inning to spark an offensive explosion, as the Scarlet and Black outscored Nevada 13-1 to win going away.
The Aztecs pounded out 17 hits for, including three apiece by Mike Jarvis, Matt Rudick and Jaden Fein, while Hendrie and Caden Miller finished with two apiece. Jarvis tied his career high with four runs scored, while Rudick and Miller crossed the plate on three occasions.
However, Nevada powered itself into an early 6-2 lead via the long ball, as Tyler Bosetti led off the contest with a solo shot, while Joshua Zamora added a three-run blast in the fourth. Also aiding the Wolf Pack cause was Dario Gomez, who singled home a run with two outs in the third, while Dillan Shrum soon followed with an RBI double.
SDSU began its climb back into contention with two outs in the fourth, loading the bases on a Jarvis double sandwiched between walks to Miller and Rudick, respectively. Hendrie promptly stepped to the plate and deposited an 0-2 offering from Nevada starter Alejandro Murillo over the left field fence to tie the game.
The Aztecs went ahead to stay in the sixth on Ryan Orr's RBI groundout before erupting for an additional four runs in the sixth to increase their advantage to 11-6.
Once again, SDSU plated all its markers in that inning with two outs. Miller led off with a single; Jarvis added a double, while Hendrie was hit by Wolf Pack reliever Shane Gustafson, who took over for Shane O'Malley after a lineout. Gustafson induced a popup; however, Fein singled up the middle on a 2-2 pitch to bring in Miller and Jarvis. Jacob Cruce drew a base on balls to reload the bases, while Orr followed with a two-run single.
Nevada answered in the seventh on Shrum's RBI double, but the Aztecs kept the hits coming in their half of the inning, scoring three more runs to break the game open. Rudick's stand-up triple knocked in Miller and Jarvis, who led off with consecutive walks, while Hendrie delivered an RBI single.
Shortly thereafter, Rudick closed out the scoring in the eighth after doubling home Orr, who singled to right and advanced on Miller's ensuing hit.
Despite giving up Zamora's homer in the fourth, Aaron Eden (2-0) picked up the victory in relief of starter Michael Paredes, who yielded five runs on seven hits and two walks against one strikeout in 3 1/3 innings. Eden allowed one run on two hits and no walks in his two-inning stint. Meanwhile, Christian Winston pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up just one walk after entering for Kelena Sauer with two outs in the seventh.
On the flip side, O'Malley (0-1) absorbed the loss after yielding three runs, including the go-ahead score, on four hits with no strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.
Shrum led Nevada with three hits in the loss, while Bosetti and Gomez scored two runs apiece.
The Wolf Pack turned the tables in game two, combining for eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings to erase a 6-2 SDSU lead.
The Aztecs drew first blood in the bottom of the first on Fein's run-scoring single with two outs, which plated Rudick, who reached on a base hit to left while Poncho Ruiz followed with a single as well.
SDSU extended its advantage to 4-0 in the second on run-scoring singles by Jarvis and Hendrie sandwiched around a Rudick sacrifice fly.
Nevada cut the lead in half in the fourth after Zamora drew a walk and raced home on Gomez's triple, while Shrum soon followed with an RBI single.
The Aztecs responded in their half of the frame when Rudick smacked his third homer of the year on the first pitch from Wolf Pack starter Jake Jackson, plating Jarvis, who led off with a walk.
Leading 6-2, SDSU would be kept off the scoreboard the rest of the game, as the Wolf Pack seized the momentum with five runs in the seventh after sending nine batters to the plate.
Zamora provided the big blast with a three-run homer off Seth Urbon, who entered the contest after Brian Leonhardt walked Ryan Jackson and hit Jacob Stinson with a pitch. Gomez followed with a double and stole third after new reliever Bradley Collins struck out Shrum.
With two outs, Nevada caught a couple of breaks when Gomez raced home on a passed ball, while Brady Hormel hit a sharp grounder that caromed off the glove of Collins, which brought in Matt Clayton, who walked and advanced the aforementioned passed ball.
The Wolf Pack closed out the scoring eighth on a two-run single by Gomez and an RBI double by Shrum.
SDSU was unable to contain Nevada's rally, as one batter reached base in the final three innings, a one-out walk by Fisher Pyatt in the seventh.
Aztec starter Troy Melton pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and three hits and three walks to go with a trio of strikeouts before giving way to Leonhardt, who lasted 2 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on one hit and one walk while fanning three.
Collins (0-1) absorbed the loss after giving up four runs on five hits and one walk in his stint of 1 1/3 innings.
Conversely, Kade Miller (2-1), who was credited with the victory, and Tyler Cochran each tossed two innings of scoreless and hitless relief, respectively, after SDSU touched starter Jackson for six runs on 12 hits and one walk in the first five frames.
Jarvis, Rudick (3 RBIs) and Cruce totaled two hits apiece for the Scarlet and Black, while Gomez finished with a game-high three hits for the visitors.
Sunday's series finale is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m. PT. XTRA Sports 1360 AM will carry the action over the airwaves, while a link to streaming video will be available on GoAztecs.com.