While fans funneled into Tony Gwynn stadium and took their seats for a Mountain West matchup, infielder Finley Bates gave them an early reason to rise to their feet. On the first pitch in the bottom of the first, Bates sent a solo home run over the left field wall — the first of his collegiate career — tying the game and kickstarting the momentum for a 5-3 win on Friday night.
“Getting my first home run was special,” Bates said. “It’s great to have that opportunity as well as the belief of my coaches and teammates every game.”
The Aztecs (4-8, 1-2 Mountain West) entered the conference clash needing a win to start the series against Nevada (4-6, 0-0) and the home run provided a spark of life for an SDSU team that feels they’ve underachieved through the first month of the season.
“To be in the leadoff spot as a freshman, Bates has played phenomenal,” said head coach Shaun Cole. “He’s taken great at-bats all season so to finally see his first home run was huge.”
After the fireworks of Bates’ solo shot, timely at-bats resulted in two more runs in favor of SDSU to put the game at 3-1 following an RBI double from outfielder Jacob McCombs and some defensive lapses from the Wolf Pack.
SDSU left the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, but found themselves with the bases loaded again in the bottom of the third. This time, the Aztecs capitalized on the opportunity with a sacrifice fly from infielder Xavier Gonzalez to push the lead to 4-1.
Nevada put together back-to-back one-run innings to make the game 4-3 and force a pitching change for the Aztecs, ending Jacob Riordan’s day on the mound. Riordan, in his first start of the season, put together a quality start, giving the Scarlet and Black six innings of work and allowing just two earned runs.
“Getting a quality start puts our team in a position to win consistently,” Cole said. “You need games like these from your Friday night starter.”
Riordan started the season primarily in relief for SDSU, pitching middle innings and seeing limited stints on a shorter leash, but Cole showed his belief in the graduate student giving him the start.
“I came here to play for Shaun Cole,” Riordan said. “He’s always preached about having faith in me, I just had to keep putting together good outings and I’d get my opportunity.”
An RBI single by outfielder Shaun Montoya in the bottom of the sixth gave SDSU a 5-3 lead. The lead stuck the rest of the way as the Aztec bullpen held Nevada hitless through the final three innings to give SDSU a much-needed conference win.
SDSU will see Nevada twice more this weekend at Tony Gwynn Stadium, with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Saturday and at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
