SAN DIEGO – Behind Brady Lavoie's five-RBI performance, San Diego State evened its weekend series against UNLV with a 7-5 triumph Saturday in a Mountain West clash at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Lavoie went 3-for-4 on the afternoon, blasting a three-run homer to go with a pair of RBI doubles, while Jake Jackson and Evan Sipe scored two runs apiece to propel the Aztecs (11-23, 5-12 MW) to victory.
Despite maintaining a 14-10 advantage in hits, the Rebels (18-16, 6-11 MW) stranded 13 runners for the contest, as the Scarlet and Black extinguished a bases-loaded threat in the ninth after minimizing a potential big inning by the visitors in the seventh.
SDSU drew first blood when Finley Bates led off the contest with a double and later scored on Tino Bethancourt's RBI groundout to short.
The Aztecs soon added to their lead in the second when Lavoie doubled home Jackson, who led off the inning with a two-bagger of his own.
The score remained unchanged until the sixth when UNLV's Kade Higgins led off the frame with a solo home run to straight-away center field, trimming the margin to 2-1. Austin Kryszczuk followed with a single to left and took second on a wild pitch after SDSU starter Omar Serrano struck out Parker Schmidt.
However, Kryszczuk was thrown out at the plate on a head-first slide after trying to score on Brendan O'Sullivan's single, as right fielder Shaun Montoya threw a perfect strike to the catcher Sipe, who simultaneously applied the tag on the Rebel runner.
The Aztecs weren't quite out of the woods in the inning, as Alex Pimental singled through the left side, which prompted a pitching change. After Jadon Bercovich was summoned from the bullpen, both runners advanced on a wild pitch before the SDSU reliever induced a groundout to pinch hitter Santino Panaro to prevent further damage.
Meanwhile, UNLV reliever LJ Mercurius was on the verge of retiring the Aztecs in order in the bottom of the frame after striking out Irvin Weems and Zane Kelly. However, Jackson kept the inning alive after reaching on a fielding error by O'Sullivan at third base, while Josh Quezada drew a walk following Jackson's steal of second.
Moments later, Sipe plated Jackson with an RBI single, while Lavoie stepped to the plate and crushed a 1-1 offering from Mercurius over the fence in left for his third homer of the week, giving the Aztecs a 6-1 advantage.
UNLV narrowed the gap to 6-4 in the seventh, scoring three runs on just two hits, aided by two walks and a pair of hit batters. The Rebels loaded the bases when Paul Myro IV led off with a single, while Rylan Charles followed with a walk and JP Hefft was struck by a pitch.
Dylan Hawkes replaced Bercovich at this juncture and induced a pop fly to Higgins but uncorked a wild pitch moments later, allowing Myro to score. Kryszczuk was then hit by another pitch before Charles scored on Schmidt's single through the right side, which led to another pitching change.
With the bases loaded, Evan Miranda took the mound a quickly induced a pop foul on the first pitch to O'Sullivan but then issued to walk to Pimentel, which brought home Charles. However, the Aztec freshman avoided disaster after inducing a groundout to Bailey Seeger.
Myro's leadoff homer in the top of the eight cut the margin to 6-5, but Miranda retired the next three batters, including consecutive strikeouts of Hefft and Higgins to preserve the SDSU lead.
The Aztecs added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning when Lavoie doubled home Sipe, who circled the bases after reaching on a fielder's choice.
With SDSU clinging to a precarious 7-5 lead, the stage was set for some anxious moments in the top of the ninth after UNLV loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Kryszczuk and Schmidt, while Sullivan bunted for a base hit.
After running the count to 3-1 against Pimentel, Miranda regrouped and caught the Rebel left fielder looking on a called third strike before receiving a flyout from Seeger and a grounder to third from Myro to end the game.
Serrano (3-4) picked up the victory for the Scarlet and Black, allowing just one run on eight hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, while Miranda collected his first career save after pitching the final 2 2/3 innings when he yielded one run on four hits and one walk.
Conversely, Jordan Hanson (2-1) absorbed the loss after ceding two runs on the five hit and one walk in four innings of work.
Montoya tied Lavoie for game-high honors with three hits, a figure that was matched by the Rebels' Charles and Schmidt.
UP NEXT
San Diego State and UNLV conclude their weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.
Lavoie's Big Day Lifts Aztecs Past UNLV, 7-5
