After a 7-1 Friday night victory over the University of Hawaii, the Aztecs (3-4) closed out the 2022 Tony Gwynn Legacy tournament with two back-to-back contests against the University of Utah (4-1-1) on Saturday and Sunday.
Game 1 – Saturday, Feb 26, 2022
In a pregame ceremony, 14 alumni of the 1983 and 1984 Aztec Baseball teams — who advanced to NCAA regionals — were honored including Utah head coach, Gary Henderson.
In addition to this, all players and coaches donned the No. 19 with ‘Gwynn’ across the back of their jerseys in honor of the late Tony Gwynn and his legacy and continuous impact on SDSU Baseball.
Head Coach Mark Martinez shared in a press conference earlier in the week that SDSU celebrates Tony every day. They work to match his character within the program and the tournament now works to educate kids who may have never seen Tony play.
With a 6 p.m. first pitch, sophomore RHP Kelena Sauer took the mound for the Aztecs for his second career start. His career-high of seven strikeouts was not enough to push the Scarlet and Black towards victory.
Redshirt sophomore Randon Hostert and the Utes stunned the Aztecs with a complete game shutout.
Utah plated two runs in the fourth after a double from graduate student Chase Anderson and an RBI single from redshirt junior Jayden Kiernan.
The scoring did not stop there for the Utes going into the fifth inning. Sophomore Kai Roberts sent a ball flying resulting in a two-run home run and bringing redshirt freshman Dakota Duffalo back home.
Junior RHP Robert Brodell took over on the mound, relieving Sauer and providing four scoreless innings with four strikeouts and allowing two hits and one walk.
Game 2 – Sunday, Feb 27, 2022
In Sunday’s matinee matchup, the Aztecs handed Utah their first loss of the 2022 season in walk-off fashion resulting in a 4-3 win.
Senior LHP Jacob Flores got the start for the Scarlet and Black, with a career-high of seven strikeouts in five innings pitched.
SDSU struck first in the third after sophomore Poncho Ruiz plated freshman Shaun Montoya.
Utah quickly responded in the fourth with a plated run after a bunt from redshirt senior Matt Richardson.
SDSU tacked on another in the bottom of the fourth, maintaining the lead at 2-1.
The Utes came roaring back in the top of the fifth, bringing in two runs after redshirt junior Carter Booth sent a two-run homer out of left-center field, giving Utah the 3-2 lead.
Following Utah’s scoring bout, sophomore RHP Johnny Guzman took over on the mound for Flores and prevented any additional scoring from the Utes.
After 1.3 innings pitched, sophomore RHP Jadon Bercovich came in to close out the game for the Aztecs and nailed down his first collegiate win after securing the final two outs in the seventh.
Junior Brian Leonhardt brought the energy back to Tony Gwynn stadium after smacking a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win for the Scarlet and Black.
The game was cut short to seven innings due to travel conflicts and time constraints within the Utah program.
The Aztecs are back in action and continuing their nine-game homestand at Tony Gwynn stadium against Hawaii on Monday with a 6 p.m. first pitch and Tuesday against UC Irvine.
