SAN DIEGO — A grand slam and solo shot by Lance Zawadzki helped San Diego State beat BYU 9-4 Friday for its second straight win against the Cougars.
After belting a solo home run in the second for the first run in the game, Zawadzki cleared the bases with a grand slam in the third, his fourth home run of the year. The freshman second baseman finished the night 2-for-4 with 5 RBI.
With the their second-straight loss, the Cougars fall to 22-28 and 12-12 in the Mountain West Conference while the Aztecs improve to 30-27 and 16-8.
Perfect in the first three innings, the Cougars scored four runs on three hits in the fourth off SDSU freshman starter
Bruce Billings (5-1). Ryan Chambers led off with a single and scored the first run on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Taylor. Ben Saylor knocked in two more runs with a double, and Tim Law singled in a run.
The fourth inning brought BYU within two runs, but the San Diego State pitching staff held the Cougars to one hit the remainder of the game. After a lead off single by Wade Vest in the fifth, the Aztecs retired 12 straight and were held to four hits in the game.
Paul Jacinto (2-9), in his first start since April 9, struggled in the third as he gave up five runs on five straight hits, capped by the granny by Zawadzki. The senior lasted 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs on 10 hits.
Curt Mendoza also hit a solo home run for San Diego State, his fourth of the year in the sixth inning for the right fielders' only hit in the game.
UNLV 8, UTAH 6: At Las Vegas, Utah dropped the series opener 8-6 to league-leader UNLV at tonight. With the loss, the Utes fall to 20-29 on the season and 10-14 in Mountain West Conference play.
Sophomore Jason Price (3-8) suffered the loss on the mound. He pitched the complete game, giving up eight runs on nine hits, while striking out seven and walking just one. He now needs just two more strikeouts to tie the single-season record of 94.
Utah took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on an error by the Rebel catcher. UNLV took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning, plating two runs on a two-run double and then adding another in the third.
The Rebels broke free in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI-single and a three-run homer to go up 7-1.
Utah scored again in the seventh on a one-run single by senior Nate Schlieman. After a UNLV run in the bottom of the inning, it was an 8-2 ballgame.
The Utes made it a game in the top of the ninth. Down by six, Utah plated four runs on a sacrifice fly by junior Matt Ciaramella and a three-run double by senior Jared Pena. But that was as close as the Utes would get.
The two teams play a doubleheader today.