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SDSU defeats Notre Dame, falls to Seton Hall
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo: Chase Calabuig singled in the tying and winning runs in the win over Notre Dame Saturday night. Courtesy goaztecs.com
February 25, 2017 (San Diego) - San Diego State came back in dramatic fashion to defeat Notre Dame, 7-6, in the finale of the Tony Gwynn Classic Saturday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Earlier in the day, the Aztecs had dropped a 10-5 decision to Seton Hall in tournament play.
The contest vs. the Fighting Irish was decided late after both teams had rallied to take the lead. Trailing 1-0, the Aztecs (4-4) got the most out of five hits to score once in the second and fourth frames and twice in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead.
In the third, Julian Escobedo singled and stole second. Dean Nevarez then struck out swinging on a wild pitch, and when the Notre Dame catcher’s throw to first to get Nevarez was booted by the first baseman, Escobedo scored to tie the game at 1-1.
Two innings later, a triple by Jordan Verdon was followed by a wild pitch that allowed SDSU to double its lead. In the fifth, the Aztecs turned a single by Alan Trejo along with a double by Andre Brown and single to Danny Sheehan plus a Fighting Irish error into a pair of runs to make it 4-1.
In the seventh inning with the Aztecs seemingly in command behind the pitching of Dominic Purpura, Notre Dame exploded for five runs to take a 6-4 lead. The big blow in the inning was a two-run inside the park home run by Kyle Fiala that gave the visitors a 5-4 lead before they added once more for a two-run advantage.
The Aztecs responded with a run in the bottom of the inning on a double by Trejo, passed ball and sacrifice fly by Brown to trail 6-5. They would win the game in the next inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Andrew Martinez led off with a walk and pinch runner Justin Wylie was sacrificed to second by David Hensley. Tyler Adkison then pinch hit and dropped double down the right field line that fell between three converging fielders to put runners at second and third. Chase Calabuig then came up with two out and singled up the middle to score both runners and make it a 7-6 contest.
Senor closer CJ Saylor (1-0), who had come in in relief in the eighth, finished out the contest by retiring the side in order in the top of the ninth as he picked up his first win of the season. Notre Dame’s Sean Guenther, who tossed the final three frames, took the loss to fall to 0-1.
In the afternoon game, Seton Hall used the long ball to score eight times over the first two innings en route to the 10-5 victory. In the top of the first, the Pirates touched up Aztec starter Harrison Pyatt for a single, three doubles and a home run plus a walk to score five runs. Pyatt would not survive the inning and would take to the loss to drop to 0-2 on the season.
Reliever Cody Thompson fared little better in the second as Seton Hall got to the senior right-hander for three more runs. A solo home run followed by a base hit and two-run homer gave the visitors an eight-run cushion.
The Aztecs tried to climb back into the contest with single runs in the second, third and fourth, but were able to get no closer over the remainder of the game.
SDSU had 13 hits in the contest as every player in the lineup recorded as least one. Martinez led the way with three singles and an RBI while Calabuig had a pair of singles, an RBI and run scored.
Up next for San Diego State is a short road trip north on Tuesday, Feb. 28 when it visits Long Beach State for a game scheduled to get underway at 6:00 p.m. at Blair Field.
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