On a sunny Friday afternoon, the San Diego State Aztecs lost to the Saint Mary’s Gaels by a score of 19-9 to kick off the three-game weekend series.

Right-hander Omar Serrano was selected to start the opening game. It is his third start of the season, and he has a 0-1 record and an 11.88 ERA.

Opposing Serrano was Saint Mary’s left-hander Derik Eaquinto, who entered the game with a 0-1 record and a 9.00 ERA.

SDSU came swinging in the top of the first, scoring three quick runs. Designated hitter CJ Moran’s RBI double to the left-field gap opened the scoring, and third baseman Daniel Arambula followed that up with his first collegiate home run on a two-run blast to left.

Serrano walked the lead-off batter, but great defense on a double play and a pop-out to catcher Ethan Sipe ended a strong, ten-pitch inning for the righty.

The Aztec bats continued to be hot after back-to-back singles from left fielder Drew Rutter and shortstop Finley Bates. First baseman Nevan Noonan laid a perfect drag bunt down the third base side to not only move the runners, but his speed allowed him to reach first safely.

Eaquinto’s outing ended there, only pitching one inning, giving up six hits, three runs and two walks, and striking out one batter.

Gaele right-hander Justin Santiago entered the game in a tough position with bases loaded and no outs. Center fielder Jake Jackson took advantage of the situation with a two-run single to left field to give the Aztecs a 5-0 lead.

Santiago walked Moran to load the bases again and Arambula’s RBI-single to right field expanded the lead to 6-0. SDSU got their seventh run of the game on right fielder Zane Kelly’s sac-fly to center with Jackson tagging from third and scoring. That was all the offense as two straight outs ended a strong four-run inning.

In the bottom of the second, Serrano got into trouble after he gave up a lead-off walk and a double to put runners on second and third with no out. Saint Mary’s plated two runs after a sac-fly and RBI-single to cut the SDSU’s lead to 7-2.

The righty stormed back with back-to-back strikeouts to limit the damage and end the inning.

Rutter reached first on a grounder to Santiago, but after a replay review, he was called out. Bates hit a single to left and stole second for his first stolen base of the year. He scored on Jackson’s RBI double to center to get a run back for the Aztecs.

After Santiago walked Moran, he was pulled for the game and replaced by Elliot Joslin, who struck Arambula to get out of the jam and end the inning.

The third started like Serrano’s previous two innings with a lead-off walk, but he stormed back with back-to-back ground outs. He walked first baseman Eddie Madrigal to put runners on the corners with no out but remained unscathed on a pop-out to Noonan.

For the first time in the game, the SDSU bats were silenced in the top of the fourth after Joslin retired all three Aztecs in order with two strikeouts.

Serrano got into a jam with back-to-back singles to start the inning and have runners on the corners with no outs. While the next two batters flied out, Saint Mary’s scored a run on a sac-fly to cut the SDSU lead to 8-3. The righty got out of the jam on a ground out to Bates ended the fourth inning.

Rutter started the top of the fifth with a lead-off single, and Bates followed that up with a single of his own but was thrown out at second when he tried to leg out a double.

SDSU got a rally going with Noonan getting hit by the pitch and Jackson getting his fourth RBI of the game on a sac fly to put the Aztecs back up by six runs. Kelly had a chance to extend the lead with bases loaded but he flew out to end the inning.

The Aztecs’ righty stayed on the mound for the fifth inning, and he gave up a lead-off single on the first pitch he threw. Serrano got two straight outs but gave up a single to have the runners on the corners. With two out, back-to-back singles cut SDSU’s lead to 9-5.

Serrano’s outing ended there as he was replaced by left-hander Chris Canada.

Right fielder Diego Castellanos belted a two-run RBI triple down the left field line to cut the lead even further to 9-7. A rough inning for the Aztec pitching staff ended there as a ground out to Bates ended the inning.

Following second baseman Jose Quezada’s lead-off walk, Joslin was taken out of the game for lefty Garret Plata.

Quezada reached second on Sipe’s sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch. However, Plata got out of the inning after Rutter’s fly out to center and Bates ground out to second.

Righty Evan Miranda replaced Canada on the mound to start the bottom of the sixth. The pitching woes for the Aztecs continued as Saint Mary’s tied the game at 9-9 following a lead-off double and a two-run home run from first baseman Ryan Pierce.

Miranda got out of the inning with three straight outs, but not before the Gales stormed back and tied the game after being down 7-0.

After a strong start, the SDSU bats started to cool down. Following Noonan’s walk, three straight Aztecs were retired to end the inning, and all the momentum was now in favor of the Gaels.

Left-hander Chris Canavan started the seventh on the mound and immediately struggled. Second baseman Cody Kashimoto belted a two-run double to left to give Saint Mary’s the lead for the first time all game. He scored on an RBI single from Chris Esquivel to put the Gaels up 12-9. Esquivel scored after a fielding error from Noonan to extend the lead for four runs.

After Canavan gave up a single, he was taken out of the game and replaced by lefty Connor Shaw. He struggled to find the zone with a wild pitch and a walk to load the bases. Another wild pitch by Shaw led to a run for Saint Mary’s, and Griffith’s two-run single to right further extended the lead to 16-9. A ground out to Bates ended a rough inning for the Aztec pitching staff as they allowed a combined seven runs.

The top of the eighth was another quiet inning for the Aztecs as Sipe was the only batter to reach base on a walk, but Plata continued to silence the bats with a stellar outing in relief.

Sammy Kahler pinch hit for Quezada in the top of the inning and moved to left, while Noonan moved to second and Rutter to first.

After Shaw gave up a lead-off single in the bottom of the eighth, he was taken out of the game for lefty Alito McBean. Pierce hit his second two-run home run of the game to extend the lead even more to 18-9.

Following two walks and a single, the bases became loaded for St Mary’s and were one run away from winning the game due to mercy rule. The Gaels got just that after Griffith got hit by the pitch to walk in a run and to end the game 19-9.

The Aztecs dropped a tough loss to fall to a 4-6 record, while Saint Mary’s moved to 6-4. The winning pitcher was Plata, who went three innings allowing no hits or runs to improve his record to 2-0. Meanwhile, Canavan got the loss in 0.2 innings pitched, allowing six runs, two of them earned on three hits, to drop his record to 1-1.