At first glance, it looks as if there is a mistake in the box score.
One hit in the bottom of the third.
Usually that doesn’t produce much offense, but the San Diego State baseball team scored seven runs on Saturday afternoon with the help of Utah issuing five walks and committing three errors.
While those runs were instrumental in SDSU’s 11-8 win against the Utes at Tony Gwynn Stadium, pitching ended up being the difference-maker. With the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, sophomore pitcher Bryan Crabb got the final two outs to give the Aztecs their fifth Mountain West Conference victory of the season.
SDSU (11-20, 5-3 in MWC play) had already scored before its productive third inning, taking an early 1-0 lead on a two-out double from junior first baseman Jomel Torres.
Then, in the third, the Aztecs sent nine batters to the plate before Utah recorded an out. Freshman left fielder Tim Zier started the inning off by reaching first on a fielding error. Three batters later, Torres stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. Ute pitcher Joe Pond walked Torres to score SDSU’s second run of the day and then was pulled for reliever Josh Chapman.
Chapman didn’t do much better, giving up a run on a wild pitch and walking junior right fielder Chris Wilson to load the bases for the second time in the inning. Then an errant throw home from third base went off the glove of catcher Jo Jo Sharrar to make it 4-0 in favor of the Aztecs.
The troubles continued for the Utes as a ground ball to first base went under the glove of C.J. Cron to allow two more runs. Freshman outfielder Cody Smith was walked to load the bases and then freshman second baseman Evan Potter scored on another walk by Chapman. A sacrifice fly by Zier drove home the final run of the inning to give SDSU a commanding 8-0 advantage.
The seven-run inning was a big part of the Aztecs’ success, but the difference-maker offensively ended up being the three runs they scored in the bottom of the sixth. After a double by freshman catcher Brad Haynal and a walk to freshman shortstop Cody Slader, Smith stepped up with a two-run triple. SDSU added one more run in the inning, on a single by Potter to extend the lead to 11-6.
Utah would score in the eighth and ninth innings, but was unable to complete its comeback as the Aztecs won their second straight game against the Utes.
Next for SDSU will be a contest against UC Irvine at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Anteater Ballpark.
