College baseball: SDSU staff stifles BYU's bats in win

PROVO — During his 20-year professional baseball career, Tony Gwynn became one of the most consistent contact hitters in the sport's history. His .338 lifetime batting average and 3,141 hits earned him a ticket to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Now, however, as the San Diego State coach, Gwynn is proving he knows how to develop solid pitchers.

Aztec starter Nate Solow surrendered just three earned runs and struck out six batters in eight innings to lead SDSU to a 9-5 victory over BYU Saturday at Miller Field.

Two days earlier, starter Stephen Strasburg defeated the Cougars by giving up just two hits and striking out 15 in an 8-1 win.

BYU jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage in the first inning Saturday afternoon, but SDSU exploded for five runs in the third, highlighted by Brandon Decker's RBI single that gave the Aztecs their first lead — a lead they did not relinquish.

"That's the turning point when you put up a five-spot," said BYU coach Vance Law.

Law added that the Aztecs might have been relaying pitching signs in that inning.

"It's easier to hit when you know what's coming," he said. "I feel that happened in that inning. It's not a big deal, that's part of the game. They swung like they knew what was coming."

While BYU battled back to within one run at 5-4, Decker struck again in the fifth, crushing a two-run home run. For the game, Decker went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Troy Hanzawa and Cory Vaughn also recorded two hits for SDSU. BYU starter Blake Torgerson (5-4) pitched five innings and gave up eight runs on eight hits and was saddled with the loss. SDSU's Solow improved to 5-6 on the season.

Four Cougar batters — Sean McNaughton, Dan Vargas, Kent Walton and Brandon Relf — collected two hits apiece.

While the Aztecs (30-22 overall, 16-8 in the Mountain West Conference) committed four errors, the Cougars (20-33, 8-13) left eight runners stranded.

Saturday's loss marked BYU's final home game of the season. A crowd of 1,255 turned out to Miller Field.

This week, BYU travels to Franklin Covey Field for a three-game series against Utah, beginning Thursday. Both teams, which sit near the bottom of the standings, are jockeying for seeding position in the MWC tournament, which begins May 20.