SAN DIEGO – In the first meeting between the two programs since 1991, San Diego State was upended by No. 7/6 Stanford, 9-6, on Saturday at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Aztecs-Cardinal clash was a tale of two games, as a pitcher's duel gradually digressed into a mistake-prone contest, with the teams combining for 12 walks and eight wild pitches over the final four innings.
Xavier Carter (2 RBIs), Cole Carrigg and Caden Miller led the SDSU offense with two hits apiece, while Braden Montgomery (3 runs) and Kody Huff paced Stanford with a pair of RBIs each in the nearly four-hour affair.
However, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when Miller led off with a ground-rule double down the right-field line and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Alex Rodriguez before racing home on Irvin Weems' sacrifice fly to left center.
Unfortunately, the 1-0 advantage quickly evaporated in the top of the sixth when Stanford plated six runs on five hits and three walks after sending 11 men to the plated.
In an ominous sign for the Scarlet and Black, both Brock Jones and Carter Graham beat out infield hits to lead off the frame, while Brett Barrera drew a walk. With the bases suddenly loaded, Montgomery doubled home Jones and Graham before circling the bases, along with Barrera, on Huff's two-run single to right, which spelled the end of the line for SDSU starter TJ Fondtain.
Following a strikeout by Aztec reliever Jonny Guzman, Drew Bowser singled through the left side, while Eddie Park and Adam Crampton each drew a base-on-balls, with the latter walk plating Huff. Moments later, Jones came up for the second time in the inning and lifted a fly ball that was caught in foul territory down the left-field line, as Bowser crossed the plate from third, giving the visitors a 6-1 advantage.
SDSU (11-29) responded with a run in its half of the inning when Carter drove in Carrigg with a solid single to center field. Previously, Carrigg walked and advanced on consecutive groundouts.
The Cardinal (23-12) ultimately extended their lead to 9-2 on Vincent Martinez's RBI single in the seventh, while Graham and Montgomery raced home on wild pitches in the eighth.
Stanford returned the favor in the bottom of the frame, as Poncho Ruiz and Carrigg both crossed the plate on consecutive wild pitches, while Carter tripled home Brian Leonhardt and later scored on Miller's sacrifice fly to left, trimming the margin to 9-6.
The Aztecs put a runner aboard in the ninth after Weems drew a leadoff walk, but the host school's threat quickly evaporated when the SDSU freshman was caught stealing between a pair of strikeouts by reliever Quinn Mathews.
Both teams utilized five pitchers on the night. Cardinal starter Ty Uber (5-1) was the beneficiary of his team's six-run outburst, earning the victory after allowing one run on three hits and two walks in five innings of work, while Mathews collected his third save of the year.
SDSU came up empty after loading the bases off Uber in the bottom of the fourth. Shaun Montoya led off with a walk and beat out a force play at second as Ruiz reached on a fielder's choice, while Carrigg got aboard on a bunt single to third. With no outs, however, Uber fought himself off the ropes by inducing a pair of fly balls, sandwiched around a strikeout.
Conversely, Fondtain (1-5) absorbed the loss after yielding five of Stanford's six runs in the sixth. The Aztec left-hander gave up five hits and two walks while posting a trio of strikeouts during his stint of five innings-plus.
San Diego State and Stanford will lock horns once again on Sunday, as the Aztecs wrap up their weekend homestand, starting at 1 p.m. PT.
Aztecs Toppled by No. 7/6 Stanford, 9-6
