Cougars Power Past Aztecs On Saturday

 PULLMAN, Wash. – San Diego State suffered its second straight run-rule defeat on Saturday as Washington State pulled away for a 13-3 victory in eight innings in the second game of a Mountain West weekend series at Bailey-Brayton Field.

The Aztecs (6-17, 2-3 MW) were plagued by seven walks, three hit batters and an error, while the Cougars (8-14, 3-2 MW) hit four home runs on the day, including two in the eighth to quickly end the contest. In addition, WSU totaled six RBIs with two outs, compared to none for the Scarlet and Black.

Eight of the Cougars’ nine position players recorded at least one hit, including Logan Johnstone, who went yard twice and scored three runs while tying Gavin Roy (2-for-4) for game-high honors with three RBIs.

Washington State starter Nick Lewis (3-2) earned the victory after allowing one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings, while Marko Sipila (1-2) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs on five hits and four walks with a trio of strikeouts in his five-inning stint.

Johnstone hit a solo homer to right with one out in the second inning to put the host school on the board.  The score remained unchanged until two outs in the fourth when Thiele went deep with a two-run blast, plating Roy, who previously singled.

Trailing 3-0, SDSU broke its scoring drought in the fifth when Hank Tripaldi knocked in Zane Kelly with a sacrifice fly for his first career RBI.

However, WSU extended its advantage with a three-spot in the bottom of the frame on Ricco Longo’s own sacrifice fly and a two-run single by Roy, which brought home Ollie Obenour and Ryan Skjonsby. Earlier, Obenour singled to center, while Skjonsby was hit by a pitch, with both runners advancing on a walk to Johnstone before crossing the plate on Roy’s grounder to deep in the hole at shortstop.  

The Aztecs loaded the bases in the seventh on Kelly’s leadoff double and a pair of one-out walks to Evan Sipe and Josh Quezada. However, Cougar reliever Rylan Haider induced a double play to extinguish the threat.

WSU gave itself some additional breathing room after loading the bases in the seventh on a one-out single by Skjonsby and two walks to Longo and Johnstone. Moments later, Skjonsby raced home on Roy’s groundout, while Longo and Johnstone scored when Thiele’s ensuing roller was mishandled at second.

SDSU trimmed the margin to 9-3 in the eighth when Nevan Noonan doubled home Jonathan Smith and Jake Jackson, who previously drew consecutive one-out walks. However, Noonan was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a triple, while new reliever Bryce Chambers induced a pop-out to prevent further damage.

Adding the proverbial insult to injury, the Cougars received a pair of two-run homers from Hartman and Johnstone in their half of the inning to account for the final score.

Kelly finished with two hits to lead the Aztecs in the loss.

UP NEXT
San Diego State wraps up its weekend series at Washington State on Sunday, beginning at noon PT. The Aztecs-Cougars skirmish will air live on the Mountain West Network.