SAN DIEGO – San Diego State dropped its second straight home game Tuesday after visiting UC Irvine held on for a 3-2 victory at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Trailing 3-0, the Aztecs plated single runs in the seventh and ninth innings but could not complete the comeback, as their record fell to 3-6 on the year. Conversely, the Anteaters emerged triumphant for the fourth time in their last five outings, improving to 5-3 overall.
Neither team generated much offense, with the Scarlet and Black maintaining a slim 5-4 edge in hits. However, SDSU was unable to completely capitalize on five walks and two hit batters while leaving 10 runners on base.
UCI fared no better, stranding 11 men despite drawing eight walks, including six over the final four innings.
Still, the Anteaters managed to make a 3-0 lead stand up after scoring all its runs in the top of the third. Taishi Nakawake and Woody Hadeen led off with consecutive doubles, while Nathan Church followed with a homer to right on the first pitch from Aztec starter Hunter Cranton, which plated Hadeen.
Cranton (0-1) finished the inning without further damage, posting a strikeout of Ben Fitzgerald sandwiched between a Thomas McCaffery flyout and a grounder to second by Justin Torres. However, the SDSU right-hander could not avoid the loss after giving up four hits and two walks against a pair of strikeouts in his starting debut for the Scarlet and Black.
Aztec relievers Ricky Tibbett, Jonny Guzman and Robert Brodell tossed two hitless and scoreless innings apiece, with Tibbett notching two of his three strikeouts in the fourth.
SDSU loaded the bases in the sixth after Deron Johnson and Irvin Weems each drew a base on balls, while Tino Bethancourt reached on a fielding error on a grounder to short. However, UCI extinguished the threat when reliever Andre Antone received a flyout to end the inning.
The Aztecs finally scored in the seventh when Caden Miller was hit by a pitch, stole second and promptly scored on Poncho Ruiz's single through the right side.
Later in the ninth, three SDSU runners got aboard when pinch hitter Cole Carrigg reached on a mishandled grounder down the first-base line, while Miller followed with a solid single to center on an 0-2 pitch. Another pinch hitter Trevor Hazelhurst stepped to the plate and drove in Carrigg with a soft liner that dropped into left field, narrowing the gap to 3-2.
However, the Anteaters' fifth reliever of the night Jacob King induced a game-ending double-play on a grounder to second base. Despite his shaky stint after starting the ninth King earned the save.
Earlier, UCI starter Michael Stanford walked the bases loaded in the third, but Cameron Wheeler entered and recorded two strikeouts to derail the Aztec momentum. Wheeler (2-1) was credited with the victory after pitching three scoreless innings, yielding just one hit and no walks while striking out three.
San Diego State will return to the diamond this weekend when it plays host to Arizona State in a three-game series, May 4-6, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Late Rally Falls Short for Aztecs in Loss to UCI
