The San Diego State baseball team went 4-1 last week to climb above .500 with a 7-5 record. The Aztecs split a two-game series at Santa Clara University on Tuesday and Wednesday before returning home to sweep Seton Hall University.
SDSU’s season has been defined by streaks in the early going. The Aztecs won their first three games, then lost five straight and are now on a four-game winning streak.
SDSU lost its first game at Santa Clara on Tuesday 12-3. The Aztecs trailed 12-0 at one point and recorded just seven hits to drop their fifth straight game.
But SDSU bounced back on Wednesday, beating Santa Clara 7-4 thanks to 4.1 innings of strong relief pitching by Ethan Miller and four RBIs from leadoff hitter Greg Allen.
The weekend series started off the right way for SDSU, defeating Seton Hall 4-3 on Friday night. Aztec designated hitter Brad Haynal was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to bring home the winning run.
They followed that with a big 10-4 win on Saturday afternoon and a 6-2 victory on Sunday.
Game of the Week
The Aztecs collected 13 hits and scored 10 runs in Saturday’s 10-4 victory against the Pirates. The Aztecs scored runs in each of the first five innings. Junior shortstop Evan Potter finally broke out of his season-opening slump in a big way, going 3-for-4 to raise his average from .034 to .135.
The Aztecs also hit their first home run of the season thanks to an opposite-field home run from freshman third baseman Tyler France. He added three RBIs to go along with his first career home run.
Player of the Week
Allen played his leadoff role to perfection. Allen is batting .353 with an on-base percentage of .400 and scored 13 runs in the Aztecs’ first 12 games.
“We had a tough stretch coming off of Oregon State last weekend,” Allen said following the Aztec’s 10-4 win against Seton Hall. “I’m just trying to give the guys a boost. Obviously, being the leadoff guy in the lineup, I’m trying to get us going early.”
In the five games last week, Allen had 10 hits, scored seven runs, drove in six runs, stole three bases and reached via walk or hit-by-pitch on three occasions. He recorded four hits and four RBIs in the 7-4 win against Santa Clara on Wednesday.
But Allen played his best game in Friday’s opener against Seton Hall. His statistics were tremendous: three hits with three runs scored, one RBI, two stolen bases and one hit-by-pitch. He also threw a runner out at home plate from center field in the eighth inning with the score tied 3-3.
“We’ve shown that when we can get a lead, we can usually win ball games,” Allen said. “So I’m just trying to do the best I can to put us in a position to have a lead.”
Pitcher of the Week
Senior right-handed pitcher Ryan Doran pitched into the eighth inning on Sunday afternoon to earn the win and move his record to 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA.
Doran surrendered eight hits in 7.2 innings and gave up two runs while striking out six batters. Doran retired 10 straight batters at one point stretching from the second inning to the fifth inning.
