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Aztec starter T.J. Fondtain fans seven to improve to 3-1 on the year
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
April 1, 2023 (Albuquerque) - Solid pitching and timely hitting were on display Friday night, as San Diego State opened its Mountain West series at New Mexico with a 5-3 triumph over the Lobos at Santa Ana Star Field.
With the victory, the Aztecs (8-13, 5-3 MW) vaulted into second place in the conference standings behind front-runner Fresno State (14-10, 7-4 MW), which took over the top spot after San José State (11-10, 4-3 MW) was routed at Nevada.
TJ Fondtain (3-1) recorded his third victory in his last four starts after striking out seven batters in seven-plus innings, surrendering just one run on four hits without a walk, to lower his season ERA from 4.22 to 3.69.
Caden Miller went 3-for-4 with a homer and an RBI single to pace the SDSU offense, while Xavier Gonzalez (2 hits) and Cade Martinez each drove in a run to help the Scarlet and Black defeat the Lobos (15-9, 5-4 MW) for the fifth straight occasion and ninth time in the last 10 meetings.
The game was scoreless until the third when Miller went yard for the second time this year on a 1-2 pitch from UNM starter Riley Egloff to give the Scarlet and Black a lead it would never relinquish.
The Aztecs plated two additional markers in the fifth on Martinez’s RBI double, while Miller followed with a run-scoring single to give the visitors a 3-0 cushion. Previously, Drew Giannini stretched a sharp leadoff grounder through the right side into a double and promptly scored on Martinez’s hit down the left-field line, while Miller greeted Egloff with a single on the first pitch.
SDSU increased its advantage to 5-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the eighth off UNM reliever Arthur Steinkamp. Shaun Montoya reached on a fielding error on a grounder to first but was erased at second when Poncho Ruiz got aboard on a fielder’s choice. Shortly thereafter, Tyler Glowacki ripped a single up the middle, while Gonzalez followed with a ground-rule double into the right-field corner to bring home Ruiz.
Terrell Hudson took the mound for the host school at this juncture and issued an intentional walk to Tino Bethancourt, which loaded the bases, before striking out David Whittle. However, the new Lobo hurler uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Glowacki to touch the plate with an important insurance run.
In addition, the home plate umpire was struck in the facemask on the errant toss, resulting in a 23-minute injury delay.
New Mexico, which entered the contest with an NCAA-best .343 batting average and ranked second nationally with 299 hits, was held in check by Fondtain, who retired the first 14 batters before giving up a single to Jake Holland and a double to Deylan Pigford with two outs in the fifth. However, the SDSU left-hander fought himself off the proverbial ropes by freezing Devon Dixon on a 3-2 pitch for his seventh and final punchout of the evening.
Fondtain was lifted after Pigford drove a 2-1 offering over the fence in right field to start the eighth, breaking up the shutout bid. Eldridge Armstrong III was then summoned from the bullpen and retired Dixon on a swinging strikeout before inducing a groundout to Chase Weissenborn. However, Dylan Ditzenberger homered down the right-field line moments later to bring the host school to within 5-2.
The Aztecs survived some anxious moments in the ninth after Lenny Junior Ashby led off with a home run off closer Kelena Sauer and Braydon Runion followed with a single to center. However, Sauer flashed his mettle and ultimately collected his fourth save of the year after striking out Reed Spenrath and inducing a pair of popouts to Holland and Pigford, the latter of which was snared by a twisting Gonzalez in shallow left field to end the game.
Egloff (4-2) was charged with the loss after yielding three runs on eight hits and one walk in seven innings of work, while Ashby and Pigford had two hits apiece for the Lobos in the defeat.
The two teams resume their series on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT, with the game airing live on the Mountain West Network.
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