Jackson's Grand Slam Lifts Aztecs Past Nevada, 7-3

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State’s Jake Jackson launched a walk-off grand slam on Friday, giving the Aztecs a dramatic 7-3 victory over Nevada in the first game of a key Mountain West series at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

More importantly, SDSU (28-18, 11-5 MW) took over sole possession of first place in the conference standings with its ninth straight win, while the Wolf Pack (23-19, 12-7 MW) slip into a tie for second with Air Force and Washington State.

After Nevada scored three runs on four hits in the seventh to tie the score at 3-3, Aidan Russell took the mound and retired six straight batters, setting the stage for Jackson’s blast in the bottom of the ninth.

Wolf Pack reliever Dominic Desch struck Nate Lopez with the first pitch of the inning, with Drew Rutter taking over as a pinch runner. Moments later, Zane Kelly ripped a double to the right-field corner, as Rutter sprinted around to the third, while Dawson Santana was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Jackson then stepped to the plate and crushed a 2-0 pitch over the center field wall for his 11th home run of the season, sending the Aztec dugout into a frenzy on the field.

Russell (6-2) picked up his team-leading sixth win of the year after two pitching two spotless innings with a pair of strikeouts, while Desch (2-2) was tagged with loss.

Earlier, Aztec starter Rohan Lettow set a career high with 11 strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings during which he allowed three runs on four hits and a trio of walks.

Five of SDSU’s position players recorded two hits apiece, including Jackson, Santana, Kelly, Jabin Trosky and Zach Justice.

Conversely, Nevada was limited to six hits for the game after entering the series ranked fourth in the nation in batting average (.330) and 11th in hits (481).

The Aztecs opened the scoring with an unearned run in the first inning when Santana crossed the plate on Trosky’s fielder’s choice grounder to third. Previously, Santana and Jackson led off with consecutive singles before Wolf Pack third baseman Sean Yamaguchi threw wildly past second trying to erase Jackson following Trosky’s smash to the left side of the infield.

SDSU extended its lead to 2-0 in the third with another unearned marker, as Justice raced home on Adam Magpoc’s RBI single up the middle. Earlier, Justice led off with a single and took second when the ball skipped past Rominic Quiban in center.

The Aztecs soon increased their advantage in the fourth when Kelly led off with opposite field double to left and advanced on Santana’s flyout to right before crossing the plate on Justice’s RBI single to shallow center, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead.

In the interim, Lettow held Nevada hitless until the top of the fourth when Mikey Cruz Jr. lifted a one-out double to right center. However, the SDSU right-hander struck out Yamaguchi and Junhyuk Kwon to extinguish the threat.

Lettow also avoided trouble in the fifth by inducing a flyout by Quiban after giving up a leadoff walk to Jacob Doyle and a two-out single by Jack Metcho. The Aztec junior retired the side in the sixth but was unable to get through the seventh unscathed.

Kwon led off with a single to left, while Doyle drew a walk, as both runners advanced on Jackson Waller’s sacrifice. Moments later, Jake Harvey singled into left center past a leaping Trosky at short, driving in Kwon and Doyle.

Issac Araiza was summoned from the bullpen and received a flyout from Metcho before yielding consecutive singles to Quiban and Jayce Dobie. Trosky made another valiant leaping effort to snare Dobie’s liner that sailed into left field, as Harvey beat the throw home to tie the score. With runners at second and third, Araiza kept the visitors from taking the lead, as Cruz popped out behind second to end the inning.

SDSU stranded 16 baserunners for the contest, leaving the bases loaded in the first and fourth. However, the Aztecs maintained a 13-6 advantage in hits, improving to 24-3 this season when out-hitting the opposition.

Wolf Pack starter Aidan Brainard allowed just one earned run and posted seven strikeouts, scattering nine hits and three walks in five innings before Eric Valdez took the hill to begin the sixth.

San Diego State resumes its series against Nevada on Saturday, May 2, starting at 5 p.m. PT. The Aztecs are expected to start Drew Talavs (3-3), while the Wolf Pack are slated to pitch Ryan Oakes (2-0).