Aztec Baseball took a weekend road trip to Reno, Nevada to take on the preseason conference favorites in the Nevada Wolfpack with hopes of securing their first conference win.
While they were successful in securing their first conference win on Friday, they were unable to secure the series after losing both Saturday and Sunday’s contests.
Game 1
Junior right-handed pitcher Troy Melton took the mound as Friday’s starter with the full intention of shutting the Wolfpack down and he did just that with a 13-1 victory.
The scoring frenzy began in the top of the second with a double from junior Brian Leonhardt to bring redshirt-sophomore Xavier Carter home. Followed by Leonhardt’s double, sophomore Caden Miller sent a single to left for another run, giving the Aztecs an early 2-0 lead.
Sophomore Poncho Ruiz sent a double down the line to left field in the third and scored on a sac fly from freshman starter Tyler Glowacki.
The fifth inning is when the magic happened for the Aztecs with five runs on three hits. Sophomores Poncho Ruiz and Cole Carrigg came up with a pair of doubles, redshirt-sophomores Trevor Hazelhurst and Xavier Carter both walked, leaving it up to Brian Leonhardt to bring them home and he had no issue doing that.
Leonhardt sent a ball barreling out to right field, bringing a bit of Slam Diego to Nevada and securing an 8-0 lead.
Nevada scored one in the bottom of the fifth but could not manage to get within reach of the Aztecs.
The Scarlet and Black tacked on two more in the sixth and seventh innings after redshirt-freshman Shaun Montoya reached home and Hazelhurst sent a solo homer off the scoreboard and increased the lead to 10-1.
The Aztec scoring did not stop there as they secured three more runs in the ninth inning. Glowacki and Hazelhurst both singled, while Carter followed up with a double down the line in right, and sophomore Max Foxcroft hit another single to secure the victory and a final score of 13-1.
All of the nine SDSU batters contributed offensively with at least one hit and a season-high of 18 hits.
Senior left-handed pitcher Jacob Flores took the mound in place of Melton in the eighth inning and maintained the dominant lead, just giving up one hit in his two innings pitched.
Game 2
Following an exciting Friday night win, the Aztecs looked to secure the series win against the Wolf Pack but were unable to after a 12-6 loss.
Sophomore RHP Kelena Sauer took the mound for the Aztecs for the Saturday start.
The Scarlet and Black led early in the first after Hazelhurst walked with loaded bases to plate Ruiz.
The Wolf Pack quickly found redemption for their Friday loss by sending 10 to the plate in the bottom of the first inning where they scored six runs with only three earned.
The Aztecs loaded the bases in response to Nevada’s rampant scoring with a walk for Leonhardt, a single from Foxcroft and Miller being hit by a pitch. Leonhardt made it home on a wild pitch and Foxcroft was brought in on a groundout from Ruiz.
Moving into the third, Glowacki led off with a single, raced to second on a wild pitch and scored after a double from Leonhardt, bringing the Aztecs within two of the Wolfpack.
Nevada responded once again with an additional two runs in the third, increasing their lead to 8-4.
The Aztecs worked to bring themselves within reach of the Wolf Pack in the seventh inning with a double from Glowacki and scoring on redshirt-freshman Johnny Giannola’s single.
Nevada silenced the Aztecs in the seventh with an additional three runs and set it in stone with a final run in the eighth.
Giannola recorded his first home run for the Aztecs in the ninth but it wasn’t enough to rally the Scarlet and Black.
Four Aztec pitchers — Sauer, redshirt-sophomore Hunter Cranton, redshirt-senior Avery Jones, and redshirt-sophomore Jonny Guzman — combined for 11 strikeouts and worked to save the game but their efforts were not enough after four errors, four batters hit, and three wild pitches.
Game 3
The Aztecs were ready to take on the Wolf Pack for the series finale and fight for the series win but fell short to Nevada 8-6.
Nevada struck first in the bottom of the second with a single, advanced to second on a groundout, and scored on a throwing error to third.
The Wolf Pack continued their scoring in the third with four runs, three unearned, to increase their lead to 5-0 over the Scarlet and Black.
The Aztecs started a rally of their own in the fourth with a walk from redshirt-sophomore Xavier Carter and a single from Hazelhurst. With runners on first and third, Giannola and Leonhardt made it on base from a pair of errors from the Wolf Pack, sending Carter home.
Foxcroft sent a double to right, plating Hazelhurst before Leonhardt made it home on a wild pitch, bringing SDSU just within Nevada, 5-4.
Nevada tacked on two more in the bottom of the fourth following a double that brought in two runners who walked.
SDSU charged back once again in the seventh with hopes of securing the series after a home run from Ruiz brought in Miller as well.
The Aztecs’ efforts were not enough after Nevada scored one additional run in the eighth, taking the victory and final score of 8-6.
