Aztecs Steam Past LIU for Second Straight Win, 12-5

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State baseball team utilized a potent offense, aggressive baserunning and some power pitching in a 12-5 victory over visiting LIU Saturday night in the second game of a weekend series at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

The Aztecs boasted five players with multiple hits and scored 12 runs for the second straight game to raise their record to 2-0 on the season for the first time since 2021.

In addition, five SDSU pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts, led by starter Drew Talavs (1-0), who fanned a career-high eight hitters to collect his first win in a Scarlet and Black uniform. Making his first collegiate start, the Oregon State transfer allowed just two runs in five innings of work, scattering four hits and one walk before giving way to four relievers, each of whom tossed one frame apiece.

Talavs and his fellow Aztec hurlers received plenty of support, as SDSU totaled six extra-base hits, including a two-run blast from Adam Magpoc, while Dawson Santana and Max Farrell each legged out a triple.

Farrell (3-for-4) led all players with three hits, tying Magpoc (2-for-5) for game-high honors with a trio of RBIs, while Santana, Tyce Peterson and Nate Lopez also finished with two hits apiece.

Magpoc went deep for the first time in an Aztec uniform, as the Boston College transfer crushed a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right off Shark starter Justin DeCastro, giving the SDSU a 2-0 lead it would not relinquish.

LIU responded with Tyler Benick’s RBI single in the top of the second before the Aztecs countered with three additional markers in their half of the frame.

Lopez and Jabin Trosky reached on singles and ultimately circled the bases after Farrell motored all the way to third on a two-out blooper that fell in fair territory halfway down the left-field line, while Magpoc followed with an RBI single, giving the host school a 5-1 cushion.

The score remained unchanged until the fourth when Santana roped a one-out triple down the right-field line and promptly raced home on a wild pitch, while Farrell walked, stole second and subsequently crossed the plate on Peterson’s RBI double, which increased the host school’s advantage to 7-1.

The Sharks were unable to keep pace after Nicholas Matson’s RBI double in the fifth, as SDSU erupted for three additional runs in the bottom of the inning to build an insurmountable 10-2 advantage.

Lopez reached on a single to shallow right field, while Zane Kelly drew a walk, as both runners advanced on Trosky’s groundout. Moments later, Santana threaded a base hit through the right side of the infield, plating Lopez and Kelly. After a stolen base, Santana alertly sprinted home from second when Farrell beat out an infield hit on grounder into the hole at shortstop.

Reliever Evan Miranda entered at this juncture and set the tone for the Aztec bullpen the rest of the way, freezing three of the four batters he faced in the top of the sixth on called third strikes.

Although the Sharks broke through with three markers in the eighth, highlighted by pinch hitter Matthew McGurk’s two-run homer, SDSU closed out the scoring in its half of the frame on Zach Justice’s two-run double with two outs, which all but extinguished LIU’s faint comeback hopes.

Previously, Farrell doubled and advanced on a balk, while Peterson walked and stole second, with both runners racing home on Justice’s big hit.

To cap off the evening, Issac Araiza took the hill in the ninth and struck out two batters before inducing a game-ending groundout, much to the delight of the Aztec faithful.

Noah Sorensen had two of the Sharks’ five hits on the night, while Castro absorbed the loss for the visitors, after allowing seven runs on eight hits and one walk against only one strikeout in 3 2/3 innings.

San Diego State will be looking for the series sweep on Sunday when the two teams lock horns in the weekend finale, starting at 1 p.m. PT.  The Aztecs are expected to start right-hander Carson Johnson, while lefty James Lordi is slated to get the call for LIU.