Some of the hometown fans in attendance at Sunday afternoon’s contest between the San Diego State baseball team and West Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C. may not have been too happy. After more than three hours of baseball, the game was called with SDSU earning an 11-9 victory at Hennon Stadium.
“It was different for the game to be called in seven,” junior outfielder Brandon Meredith said. “But we had huge traveling restraints and couldn’t have played more than that.”
The Aztecs battled multiple comeback attempts by WCU as SDSU’s pitchers struggled on the mound. Sophomore pitcher Bryan Crabb lasted just one inning. He was pulled in the second after walking the first two batters he faced.
Both would score and were tagged to Crabb, who allowed five earned runs.
Steven Moranda fared a little better, but still struggled to keep the Catamounts off the board. He held strong during the third, fourth and fifth innings, but walked in one run then was tagged by a three-run shot in the sixth.
Although the pitching staff didn’t have its best day, the offense was much better against WCU. Freshman outfielder Cody Smith went 3-for-4 and scored twice. Meanwhile, junior catcher Ben Vasko and senior third baseman Pat Colwell each registered two hits with Vasko tallying three RBI and Colwell scoring twice.
On Saturday, the Aztecs rallied to pick up an 11-5 win behind the bat of Meredith. He recorded his first four-hit game of the season with a single, two doubles and a home run.
Meredith was also instrumental in a 4-3 victory against the Catamounts on Friday. He singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and junior catcher Chris Wilson’s sacrifice fly allowed Meredith to score the eventual winning run.
“This weekend’s sweep was a huge momentum boost for our team,” Meredith said. “We were put into situations in which earlier in the year we would have folded, but we came through this time. Coach (Tony Gwynn) was pleased but also we could have capitalized on more opportunities. But overall great weekend and I know the team has great morale right now.”
