San Diego State baseball (13-13, 2-1 Mountain West) took on UC Irvine (9-15, 1-5 Big West) late Tuesday afternoon in a one-off game to open up the week, with the Scarlet and Black looking to right the ship after losing four of their last five.
Both teams’ offenses would get off to a blazing start with the Anteaters jumping out to a 2-0 lead at the top of the first. The first run came on a solo home run off the bat of junior centerfielder Tommy Farmer IV, who launched the third pitch of the game over the left field wall to give the Anteaters an early lead.
UC Irvine piled on the second run in the top half of the inning on an RBI single lined back up the middle from junior shortstop Zach Fjelstad.
The Aztecs’ offense responded quickly in the bottom half of the first, as redshirt sophomore catcher Zach Justice crushed a game-tying two-run home run to left field.
“That swing was huge, just to punch right back and even up the ball game again, it gave us the momentum we needed,” head coach Kevin Vance said of the home run.
The Scarlet and Black rode this momentum and took the lead in the bottom half of the second, after junior right fielder Zane Kelly blasted a go-ahead two-run home run to right-center field, putting the Aztecs ahead 4-2.
The game settled down after the offensive onslaught in the first two innings as both starters recorded scoreless third innings before heading to the top of the fourth, where the Aztecs’ bullpen took over the game.
After a resilient three innings from freshman starting pitcher Jake Frohn, junior relief pitcher Bryce McKnight got the nod from the bullpen, shutting down the UC Irvine offense over three scoreless innings, helping the Aztecs maintain a 4-2 lead.
“He was filling up the zone and throwing strikes, which was all he needed to do,” Vance said of McKnight. “His stuff looked really good and he looked confident even when he was getting squeezed.”
The Aztecs broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring four runs in the bottom half, with the first run coming off a throwing error from redshirt sophomore pitcher Tim Grack.
Kelly tacked on the second and third runs of the inning on a two-run double, pushing the lead to 7-2 and giving Kelly his fourth RBI of the ballgame. He came around to score on a wild pitch, extending the Aztecs’ lead to 8-2.
“I’ve been dealing with some finger issues and it’s finally starting to heal, so it’s allowed me to hold the bat a little bit better and allow me to feel stronger in the box,” Kelly said.
UC Irvine continued to battle throughout the rest of the game, scoring one run in the top of the seventh after Fjelstad smacked a solo home run to right center, cutting the lead to 8-3.
The Anteaters pushed across one more run at the top of the ninth on a one-out RBI double off the bat of sophomore designated hitter Kai Smith, cutting the lead down to four. However, the Scarlet and Black pitching staff retired the next two hitters, securing the 8-4 victory.
“We came ready to play and were unfazed by everything. Something we talk about a lot is being ready to go and have each other’s back, which is something I thought we did really well,” Vance said.
The Aztecs are set to head off to Phoenix to face Grand Canyon University in their weekend series, with the opening game set for this Friday at 6 p.m.
