SAN -- For the second straight night BYU's baseball team defeated San Diego State, this time in a 4-2 upset Friday over heralded pitcher Stephen Strasburg.
True, Strasburg was not the losing pitcher, but his Aztecs had a 2-0 lead when he left the game after seven innings, two hits and 15 strikeouts. BYU, now 13-7, rode the arm of Blake Torgerson who went seven and a third innings as his teammates scored three runs in the eighth in front of 2,032 fans.
"Our guys were battling at the plate against Strasburg," said BYU coach Vance Law. "He is nasty and is going to be in the Major Leagues before the end of the year."
That battling kept BYU in the game and when Strasburg was replaced, BYU erupted for three runs in the eighth. Stetson Banks started the rally that inning with a one-out double down the rightfield line. He scored off Andrew Law's single to centerfield after advancing to third on a bunt by Kent Walton.
Sean McNaughton continued that rally, beating out a single to the shortstop, putting Cougars on the corners. Then Steve Parker singled up the middle, scoring Law and McNaughton, who read Coach Law's fingers perfectly rounding third.
"Every time a throw is made we are looking to advance 90 feet," said Coach Law. "You could feel the air go out of the stadium then. It was nice to be able to sneak one through when no one was expecting."
With the Cougars up 3-2 after the eighth, Jake Wortham relieved Torgerson on the mound. Wortham gave way to Jordan Muir in the ninth as he toed the rubber for his fourth save of the season, retiring the Aztecs in order for the second night in a row in the final inning.
"I was happy with the way our defensive played behind me," said Torgerson, who surrendered no walks. "Things haven't been like I wanted the last couple of games. Tonight I felt good and took advantage of what the umpire was giving."
BYU improved to 4-1 in the Mountain West Conference, while SDSU falls to 3-2 in the league and 13-8 overall. The two teams conclude the three-game series on Saturday at 1 p.m., PDT, in a game broadcast live over KSRR Radio (1400 AM).
BYU at San Diego State
Mar 20, 2009 at San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn Stadium)
BYU 4 (13-7,4-1 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WALTON, Kent dh.......... 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0
LAW, Andrew 2b........... 4 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 0
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf...... 5 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 3
PARKER, Steve 3b......... 4 0 1 1 0 2 1 3 3
RELF, Brandon ss......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 1
BOWEN, Michael rf........ 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 0 0
KO, Kasey 1b............. 2 0 0 0 2 0 7 0 0
NACAPOY, Chad c.......... 3 0 0 1 0 2 7 0 1
BANKS, Stetson cf........ 4 1 2 0 0 2 3 0 0
TORGERSON, Blake p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
WORTHAM, Jake p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MUIR, Jordan p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 33 4 8 3 5 15 27 8 8
San Diego State 2 (13-8,3-2 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
COLWELL cf............... 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0
DECKER lf................ 4 1 1 0 0 3 3 0 0
MEREDITH 1b.............. 3 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0
CASTRO c................. 4 0 3 1 0 0 15 0 1
VAUGHN rf................ 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 3
WILSON dh................ 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
BLACKBURN 2b............. 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 2
GUST 3b.................. 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
O'SULLIVAN ss............ 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1
BABITT ph............... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
STRASBURG p.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
LEARY p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
SHARP p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 34 2 9 2 0 7 27 5 8
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 000 031 - 4 8 1
San Diego State..... 000 020 000 - 2 9 0
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E - BOWEN. DP - SDSU 1. LOB - BY 8; SDSU 8. 2B - BANKS; CASTRO. 3B - BOWEN.
HBP - COLWELL. SH - BLACKBURN. SF - NACAPOY; MEREDITH. SB - LAW, An.; BANKS.
BYU IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake.... 7.1 9 2 2 0 7 29 32 -
WORTHAM, Jake....... 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 -
MUIR, Jordan........ 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 -
San Diego State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
STRASBURG........... 7.0 2 0 0 2 15 23 25 -
LEARY............... 1.0 5 4 4 1 0 8 9 -
SHARP............... 1.0 1 0 0 2 0 2 5 -
Win - TORGERSON (2-2). Loss - LEARY (0-1). Save - MUIR (4).
HBP - by TORGERSON (COLWELL). Pitches/strikes: None.
Umpires - HP: Dale Luker 1B: Kelly Gonzales 3B: Bill Speck
Start: 6:05 pm Time: 2:29 Attendance: 2032
Weather: Clear, mild
Play-by-Play
BYU 1st - WALTON struck out looking. LAW, An. struck out looking.
McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 1st - COLWELL singled through the right side. DECKER
struck out swinging. MEREDITH flied out to rf. CASTRO singled to center field,
advanced to second on the throw; COLWELL advanced to third. VAUGHN flied out to
cf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 2nd - PARKER struck out swinging. RELF flied out to lf. BOWEN struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 2nd - WILSON singled up the middle. BLACKBURN grounded
out to 3b, SAC, bunt; WILSON advanced to second. GUST grounded out to p
unassisted; WILSON advanced to third. O'SULLIVAN struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - KO flied out to lf. NACAPOY struck out swinging. BANKS struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 3rd - COLWELL singled up the middle. DECKER struck out
swinging. MEREDITH flied out to rf. CASTRO reached on a fielder's choice;
COLWELL out at second 2b to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - WALTON singled up the middle. LAW, An. struck out swinging.
McNAUGHTON grounded out to 2b; WALTON advanced to second. PARKER grounded out
to 3b; WALTON advanced to third. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 4th - VAUGHN struck out swinging. WILSON lined out to
2b. BLACKBURN singled to right field. GUST grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 5th - RELF struck out looking. BOWEN struck out swinging. KO walked.
NACAPOY struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 5th - O'SULLIVAN grounded out to ss. COLWELL hit by
pitch. DECKER singled to right field; COLWELL advanced to second, advanced to
third on an error by rf. MEREDITH flied out to cf, SF, RBI; COLWELL scored.
CASTRO doubled to center field, RBI; DECKER scored. VAUGHN grounded out to 3b.
2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - BANKS struck out looking. WALTON walked. LAW, An. singled to
center field; WALTON advanced to third. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. PARKER
struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 6th - WILSON grounded out to 2b. BLACKBURN flied out to
lf. GUST struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - RELF struck out looking. BOWEN grounded out to 2b. KO flied
out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 7th - O'SULLIVAN struck out swinging. COLWELL flied out
to rf. DECKER struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 8th - LEARY to p for STRASBURG. NACAPOY flied out to cf. BANKS
doubled down the rf line. WALTON grounded out to p, bunt; BANKS advanced to
third. LAW, An. singled to center field, RBI; BANKS scored. LAW, An. stole
second. McNAUGHTON singled to shortstop; LAW, An. advanced to third. PARKER
singled up the middle, RBI, advanced to second on the throw; McNAUGHTON scored;
LAW, An. scored. RELF popped up to ss. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 8th - MEREDITH flied out to cf. CASTRO singled to left
field. VAUGHN singled to third base; CASTRO advanced to second. WORTHAM to p
for TORGERSON. WILSON reached on a fielder's choice; VAUGHN out at second ss to
2b; CASTRO advanced to third. BLACKBURN fouled out to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 9th - BOWEN tripled down the rf line. KO walked. SHARP to p for
LEARY. NACAPOY flied into double play rf to 1b, SF, RBI; KO out on the play;
BOWEN scored. BANKS singled up the middle. BANKS stole second. WALTON walked.
LAW, An. walked; WALTON advanced to second; BANKS advanced to third. McNAUGHTON
flied out to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
San Diego State 9th - MUIR to p for WORTHAM. GUST grounded out to 3b.
BABITT pinch hit for O'SULLIVAN. BABITT grounded out to p. COLWELL flied out to
rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.