The San Diego State baseball team hosted Long Beach State on April 9 at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs played all nine innings but lost against Long Beach, 6-3.
The game was scoreless through three innings, but Long Beach was able to take momentum in the 4th and 5th innings. Long Beach scored two runs in the 4th inning and two in the 5th inning, helping them lead 4-0 against the Aztecs.
The Aztecs had time to shine as they made three runs in the 6th inning.
The first run occurred when third-base Colby Turner singled to the left, earning him an RBI. Center fielder Irvin Weems advanced to second and right fielder Shaun Montoya scored.
The second run from the Aztecs was when second base Josh Quezada grounded the ball forcing a double play in which first base Tino Bethancourt was out. Besides the out, Turner advanced to third plate while Weems scored, 4-2.
The last run for the Aztecs was when Turner scored after a wild pitch, 4-3.
Even though the Aztecs were down by one point, they struggled offensively to score. Long Beach secured the win in the 9th inning as they made two runs.
The Aztecs struggled on defense, giving up 10 walks and six runs.
Montoya spoke on what went right and wrong against Long Beach.
“Bases loaded and (Evan) Miranda struck the dude out, that was huge,” Montoya said. “Colby Turner hitting in a running scoring position. Cons, just the walks and errors. Stuff that we can control.”
By the end of the game, the Aztecs totaled three runs, five hits, one RBI, three walks and nine assists.
Head coach Shaun Cole talked about a theme discussed with the team: culture.
“You got to take wins and losses out of it when you’re having a season like this,” Cole said. “You got to focus on the culture, you got to focus on the standards, the details that can’t slip because sometimes you can’t control wins and losses, especially in this game.”
Aztecs will play against the University of California, San Diego today at 6 p.m. at the Trojan’s home in La Jolla.
“I want to see them clear their minds from the loss and bounce back,” Cole said.