March 30, 2008

Final Stats

Complete Houston-San Diego State Game Book (March 30, 2008) in PDF Format

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - San Diego State jumped out to a 9-1 lead after eight innings and held off a furious comeback in the ninth inning to take a 9-6 win over the University of Houston baseball team Sunday during the finale of a non-conference series at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Freshman shortstop Blake Kelso led off with a single through the right side, stole second and moved to third base following a groundout. Senior infielder Bryan Pounds then laced a sacrifice fly to left field for a 1-0 UH lead.

Unfortunately, that would be the last run the Cougars would score until the final frame. The Aztecs scored four runs off three hits with Troy Hanzawa's two-run single highlighting the SDSU frame.

In the seventh inning, the Aztecs added two more runs on a Cougar infield error and Nick Romero's RBI-single. SDSU pushed three more runs across in the eighth inning, thanks in part to Hanzawa's two-run triple.

The Cougars started their rally in the final inning. Chris Wallace led off a single to left field and moved into scoring position after a groundout. Kelso then smashed an RBI-double into center field and moved to third base following back-to-back walks to senior outfielder Jake Stewart and Pounds.

Following an SDSU pitching change, senior second baseman Ryan Lormand freshman utility player Matt Murphy drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks to pull the Cougars to within 9-4. Freshman Caleb Ramsey plated Pounds and Lormand with a single to center field but was thrown out at second base to end the game.

UH starter Donnie Joseph collected the loss and fell to 0-1 after giving up three runs off three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in four innings. SDSU starter J.R. Murphy improved to 4-1 after limiting the Cougars to one run off five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

Freshman shortstop Blake Kelso went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI, to lead the Cougar offense, which rapped out nine hits in the game. Senior infielder Bryan Pounds went 2-for-3 with a triple, run and RBI, while senior second baseman Ryan Lormand batted 2-for-4 with a run, stolen base and RBI.

Troy Hanzawa went 3-for-4 with three runs, a triple and four RBIs, while Nick Romero batted 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Garett Green finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Cougars return to action when they resume their Conference USA schedule against UCF at Cougar Field, beginning with 6:30 p.m. games on both Friday and Saturday. The series against the Knights wraps up at 1 p.m., Sunday.

Fans can hear Cougar Baseball games live at UHCougars.com by clicking the appropriate links. Jeremy Branham will call the play-by-play action while former letterwinner Pat Cauley provides color analysis.

Fans always can follow live stats by clicking on the Gametracker link.