SAN DIEGO – In the first of two crosstown meetings this season, San Diego State committed a series of costly mistakes in an 8-3 loss to San Diego on Tuesday at Fowler Park and Cunningham Field.
Despite maintaining a 7-5 advantage in hits, the Aztecs (7-25) were plagued by three wild pitches, two passed balls and a crucial fielding error, as the Toreros (20-11) scored seven of their eight runs with two outs.
USD grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Chase Meidroth scored on Jack Costello's RBI double, while RJ Teijeiro raced home on a passed ball. Earlier, Meidroth roped a double to left, while Teijeiro drew a walk as both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
SDSU plated all of its runs in the top of the third on three hits to vault in front, 3-2. After leading off with a single, Irvin Weems motored around the bases on a double by Tino Bethancourt, who subsequently took third on Charlie Rhee's sacrifice bunt.
With the infield drawn in, Caden Miller promptly hit a tapper to the second base side, but Bethancourt avoided the tag on the throw home. Miller moved to second on groundout shortly thereafter and eventually crossed the plate on Poncho Ruiz's single up the middle.
The score remained unchanged until the fifth when the Toreros' Ariel Armas trotted home on Angelo Peraza's sacrifice fly to right, knotting the game at 3-3. Previously, Armas walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch before taking third on a sacrifice bunt.
The Aztecs' third pitcher of the night Hunter Hargett struck out two batters, sandwiched around a walk to Teijeiro, after entering in the bottom of the sixth. However, the inning started to unravel for the Scarlet and Black after Arias singled deep in the hole at short, as both runners advanced on a passed ball. Moments later, Dustin Allen was issued a walk, abruptly ending Hargett's appearance.
However, SDSU did not fare any better after Ryan Faulks took the mound, as pinch hitter Camden Vasquez drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Teijeiro. Still, Faulks and the Aztecs were primed to get out of the jam with minimal damage, but Meidroth's grounder to short was misplayed, which kept the inning alive and allowed both Armas and Allen to score. Shortly thereafter, Vasquez raced home on another wild pitch, giving USD a commanding 7-3 lead.
The Toreros closed out the scoring in the eighth when Allen walked, took third on Vasquez's single and crossed the plate on Meidroth's sacrifice fly.
Jack Hyde (3-1), USD's second pitcher of the night, picked up the victory after pitching two scoreless innings, yielding two hits and a walk against three strikeouts in relief of starter Ryan Kysar, who gave up all three SDSU runs on three hits and two walks in five innings of work.
Conversely, Hargett (0-1) took the loss for the Aztecs, who used six pitchers in the game. Sophomore transfer Julian Jackson made his first appearance on the hill this season, pitching a scoreless seventh with one walk and one strikeout. Meanwhile, Omar Serrano received his first career start and lasted three innings, yielding two runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks while posting four strikeouts.
Weems and Brian Leonhardt finished with two hits apiece to lead the Aztec offense.
San Diego State continues its road swing later this week with a three-game Mountain West series at New Mexico, April 14-16. The Aztecs will return home for a rematch with USD on Monday, April 18, starting at 6 p.m. PT.
Aztecs Drop 8-3 Decision at USD
