Andrew Huse / Staff Photographer

San Diego State head baseball coach Tony Gwynn didn’t need many words to explain how Southern University pitcher Jarrett Maloy carved up his lineup Saturday night.

“He did it quickly; he didn’t waste a lot of pitches,” Gwynn said of his team’s 4-2 loss. “I think over one (five out) span he threw six pitches. We have some work to do.”

SDSU starter Jon Berger matched Maloy for five innings, pitching to a 1-1 tie through the fifth and holding a brief lead before fading late.

“My changeup was working (early), I was leaving it down and the defense was playing well behind me,” Berger said. “I just started leaving balls up. I got tired and couldn’t keep the ball down.”

Berger ended his night after throwing 6.2 innings, striking out five and walking none. He gave up just six hits but was responsible for all four Jaguar runs.

“He mixed his pitches up really well tonight. He had a good changeup going,” Gwynn said. “We make some plays behind him and they don’t score some of those runs. He just left a couple pitches over the middle of the plate, but he was definitely good enough to get a win tonight.”

Offensively, the team was on an entirely different page.

Aztec hitters managed just seven base hits, with no player having more than one base knock. Sophomore outfielder Cory Vaughn recorded the only RBI for SDSU, tripling home fellow-sophomore T.J. Thomas in the sixth to give the Aztecs their only lead of the night, 2-1.

Southern came right back in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs on three hits, including a double and a triple. SDSU threatened in the top of the ninth, putting two runners on, but couldn’t break through.

“He was just hitting his outside corners, and they were giving him a couple balls off the plate,” Aztec freshman first baseman Brandon Meredith said. “We adjusted toward the end of the game and hit some balls hard, but their center fielder made some great catches.”

Entering this season, SDSU knew its offense would take some time to gel, with the team breaking in an entirely new infield with key departures of third baseman Nick Romero and shortstop Troy Hanzawa.

“I think we’re comfortable right now (offensively). We just need to execute. It’s not a big deal,” Meredith said.

With a young team under heavy scout scrutiny because of junior Stephen Strasburg’s presence, Gwynn sees his team gaining valuable game experience to close out these tight games later in the season.

“We need to get some game experience to find out what we can and can’t do,” he said. “Their guys took advantage of that. We’re going to be fine. You learn lessons as you go through the season.”