SAN DIEGO – San Diego State launched its 2023 home schedule on a sour note Tuesday, falling to CSUN by a 7-5 count at a soggy Tony Gwynn Stadium.
TJ Fondtain went 2-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored, but it wasn't enough, as the Aztecs (0-4) saw their six-game winning streak in home openers snapped.
Conversely, the Matadors (4-0) erupted for six runs in the first two innings combined to key their fourth straight victory.
CSUN plated four markers on just one hit in the first off SDSU starter Robert Brodell, capitalizing on four walks, two hit batters and a wild pitch to vault in front to stay.
The Matadors added two tallies on three straight hits in the second when Andrew Sojka tripled down the left-field line and raced home on Emanuel Dean's double. Moments later, CSUN extended its advantage after Dean crossed the plate on Joey Kramer's single up the middle.
The Aztecs trimmed the deficit in half thanks to a three-run surge in the bottom of the second. Fondtain and Tino Bethancourt scored on consecutive RBI groundouts by Shaun Montoya and Tyler Glowacki, while Xavier Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and raced around the basepaths on Drew Giannini's double down the right-field line.
Previously, Fondtain roped a double to the base of the wall in left field, while Bethancourt walked before both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
SDSU was poised to narrow the gap in the third when Cole Carrigg led off with an infield single down the first-base line. However, the Aztec junior was thrown out at second on a stolen base attempt following a strikeout. However, the Scarlet and Black salvaged a run courtesy of Fondtain, who cranked an 0-2 pitch off the lower level of the batter's eye in center field for his first round-tripper of the season to pull the host school with 6-4.
The score remained unchanged until the top of the sixth when Jakob Simons went deep off Ricky Tibbett to restore the visitors' three-run cushion at 7-4.
Simons' solo blast was the lone blemish yielded by the trio of Tibbett, Eldridge Armstrong III and Kelena Sauer, who combined for 11 strikeouts against two hits and no walks in the final 6 1/3 innings. Tibbett fanned five batters in his stint of 4 1/3 innings, while Armstrong punched out four hitters in the seventh and eighth before Sauer followed with a pair of strikeouts in the ninth.
In the interim, SDSU tightened the score to 7-5 in the eighth when Caden Miller sprinted home on Carrigg's sacrifice fly to left. Earlier, Miller reached on an infield single and took second on an errant throw to first before advancing on a wild pitch.
Montoya reached on another infield hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth; however, CSUN's Kramer snared Maddox Haley's sharp liner wide of first base to end the game.
Despite allowing four runs on five hits in five innings, Matador starter Kenji Pallares (1-0) survived long enough to earn the victory, striking out five batters against one walk, while Isaac Ontiveros also fanned five over the final four frames, yielding just one unearned run on two hits to record the save.
On the flip side, Brodell (0-1) was tagged with the loss after recording just two outs in the first before giving way to Tyson De Wall (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB).
Simons led the Matadors with two hits, while Kramer and Dean totaled two RBIs apiece in the win.
San Diego State will be back in action this weekend when it co-hosts the annual Tony Gwynn Legacy event.
Aztecs Drop Home Opener to CSUN, 7-5
