San Diego State basking in the light of a ten game winning streak.
After dropping three to New Mexico, the Aztecs have bounced back with ten wins and are leading the conference.
April was showing signs of cloudy doom for the Aztecs baseball as they just finished on the tail end of a three game losing streak. They were about to enter a stretch of four non conference games. The Aztecs realized the opportunity to regain focus headed into the tail end of the season. Something worked right as the Aztecs shifted
things into gear. First off was a 9-1 home game vs. neighbors UC San Diego. Then it was off to Long Beach State where they beat the 49ers 7-5. Next they were home against Seattle and a 9-5 victory. They followed that up with a road trip to Cal State Northridge and the Aztecs held on for a 4-3 win. After the non-conference respite, the Aztecs then travelled to the Central Valley to take on Fresno State at the Bulldogs park for three. Nothing to worry about here as the Aztecs swept three games, 4-3, 8-5 and 6-2. It was the Zane Kelly show in the third game as he belted two home runs. The Aztecs were paced by a triumvirate of pitchers, Alec Belardes, Jake Frohn and Carson Johnson who all went three innings to close out the series.
The Aztecs followed up the sweep with a home game against Fullerton and a 5-3 win. This would tee up an important series against conference co-leaders Nevada Wolfpack on Friday. There was nothing short of fireworks as these two teams battled even after eight at 3 apiece. Both teams used small ball and errors to scrape out three runs. Enter the bottom of the ninth. The Wolf Pack has reliever Dominic Desch on the mound and hit Nate Lopez. With Drew Rutter pinch running, Zane Kelly powered a double down the right field line, putting runners at second and third. Dawson Santana was intentionally walked to load the bases. The Aztecs were 90 feet away from the winning run. Instead of settling for one, Jake Jackson sent a 2-0 pitch over center field for a walk-off grand slam homer, sending the jubilant Aztecs home with a thrilling victory. The win put the Aztecs into a tie after the first game of the series.
Game two saw the Aztecs and Wolfpack match each other until the 8th inning where the Aztecs were down 5-4. The Wolf Pack were led by Jake Harvey who doubled home Jackson Waller to take the lead. The Aztecs found their magic and never say die attitude as they were able to plate four runs with two outs in the eighth inning. The rally started with a one out triple by Adam Magpoc. Anthony Marnell IV then walked. With a new pitcher, Marnell stole second. Zane Kellyt then crushed a double to right center scoring Magpoc and Marnell and a 6-5 lead. Dawson Santana drew an infield single and stole second before Jake Jackson singled to score both runners and an 8-5 lead. Aztec pitcher Carson Johnson got the first two outs in the ninth, but gave up a single, but got the last out on a game-ending pop up.
San Diego State looks to take the series sweep against Nevada today starting at 1:00 PT. Aztecs have projected staryter Alec Belardes (3-3) on the mound against Alessandro Castro (3-2)
The remainder of the season looks favorable for the Aztecs as they hold the conference lead heading into the last few days of the season. Next up for the Aztecs is a game at UC San Diego, followed by a three game series at home against San Jose State and a season ending series in Las Vegas against the Rebels. UNLV is currently 7-11 in conference play while the Spartans are 6-11. The Spartans do own a pair of wins over the Aztecs in earlier non-conference play. Expect this to be a different ending as the Aztecs smell blood in the water as they look to close out the season as conference champions. The second place spot is a tie between Washington State and Air Force. The Cougars and Falcons will end the season with a three game series and second place on the line. A favorable seeding for the Aztecs awaits them in the conference championship May 21-24 in Mesa Arizona.
