The San Diego State men’s baseball team was defeated, 9-2, by the University of San Diego at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Tuesday night.
Starting pitcher Garvey Rumary pitched four innings and allowed three hits and one run.
Despite surrendering one run, Rumary’s night was cut short as head coach Shaun Cole turned to his bullpen early.
“Pitch count, (Rumary is a) freshman, (it is the) first time he’s logged that many pitches,” Cole said. “He did a great job tonight.”
Designated hitter Jacob McCombs connected on a solo home run to even the score at one-a-piece in the second inning.
McCombs has three home runs on the season to lead the team.
“(McCombs is) a freshman that does a good job not missing fastballs,” Cole said. “That’s why we can get him in (and) continue to get him more ABs (at-bats). He did a great job.”
After McCombs’ home run and center fielder Irvin Weems’ double to right center that drove in third baseman Colby Turner, SDSU’s bats went silent.
In the seventh and eighth innings, SDSU (4-8, 1-2) gave up eight runs.
Toreros (5-5) right fielder Angelo Peraza — preseason all-WCC selection — connected on a home run deep left that drove in center fielder Ariel Armas and shortstop Ryan Ward.
SDSU called a mound huddle but proceeded to give up another three runs when third baseman Jack Costello homered deep to score center fielder Dustin Allen and first baseman Jack Gurevitch.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, SDSU had three consecutive strikeouts.
They continued to struggle to generate offense in the final two innings, mustering a pair of groundouts and strikes outs looking.
Cole spoke of SDSU’s miscues and USD’s strong performance that led to the outcome of the game.
“I think both. I just talked to the team about the game itself,” Cole said. “(Baseball is) going to punish you when you have opportunities to drive runs in. To San Diego’s credit, they executed and took advantage of it.”
USD head coach Brock Ungriht, a former catcher and infielder who won three letters at SDSU, made his return back to the Mesa.
SDSU pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts.
The Aztecs continue their five-game homestand as they are set to play Nevada in a three-game series between March 8-10, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
