SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Fresno State baseball team's comeback came up short against the San Diego State Aztecs in the series opener on the road.
The 9-8 loss leaves the Bulldogs one game ahead of New Mexico in the Mountain West standings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aztecs led off the first inning with a single and then a home run to give SDSU an early 2-0 lead.
Justin Stransky hit a sacrifice fly that scored Ben Newton to put the Bulldogs within a run in the second.
A one-run lead for the Aztecs quickly became a five-run lead after SDSU scored four on four hits in the third.
Grady Morgan and Ben Newton hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth, and an RBI single from Michael McKernan tied the game at six.
The Bulldogs took a one-run lead in the seventh, scoring a single run from a Bobby Blandford single. SDSU replied with a bases-clearing double to score three runs and make it a 9-7 game.
Newton got the Bulldogs a run out from tying the game in the top of the ninth with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hopfe, but the comeback came up short and the Bulldogs fell 9-8 to the Aztecs.
NOTES
The Bulldog pitching staff totaled 10 strikeouts on the night, making the 18th game of the season with 10+ strikeouts.
Tommy Hopfe, Ben Newton and Bobby Blandford all went two for four on the night.
Fresno State now has a 14-8 record in MW play and is still in first place in the conference standings, a game ahead of second-place New Mexico.
UP NEXT
The Diamond 'Dogs will continue the series against the Aztecs on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT at Tony Gwynn Stadium.