San Diego State Sweeps Two Games

It seems that every time a team is mired in a losing streak, it conducts a team meeting so that the players can air everything out and try and turn things around.

The San Diego State baseball team, losers of four of its first five Western Athletic Conference Southern Division games, had one of those meeting before Friday night’s crucial doubleheader against Texas El Paso at Smith Field.

The meeting must have worked.

Mark Grace hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to help SDSU win the first game, 3-1, and Mike Erb (6-2) allowed just one hit over seven innings and struck out 10 as the Aztecs completed the sweep with a 9-1 win in Game 2.

SDSU moved back into third place in the WAC by improving its conference mark to 3-4 (35-18-1 overall). UTEP fell to 2-5 in conference play and 24-18 overall. The two teams wind up their four-game series today at 5 p.m. (KTTY-Channel 69) at Smith Field.

“That meeting was just something we needed,” Aztec left fielder Chris Gwynn said. “I think a lot of the players knew we had to start playing better as a team but didn’t want to say it.

“I just wanted to make sure we did something,” he said. “You don’t want to be sitting there at the end of the season saying, ‘We’ll, if we did this or that . . .’ It seemed like we just needed something to turn us around.”

And Grace’s home run may have been just the thing, coming with Gywnn aboard and the Aztecs trailing, 1-0, in the sixth inning of the opener.

“When I got back to the dugout (Coach Jim) Dietz gave me a big hug,” Grace said. “It was the best feeling I’ve had all year.”

Meanwhile, the home run made a winner of Scott Lawrence (3-0), who relieved Aztec starter Bill Blount in the sixth and retired all four batters he faced.

In the second game, SDSU scored three times in the bottom of the first inning, two runs scoring on Ron Vanegas’ double to left-center field.

After that, the Aztecs’ long-ball bats, silent for most of the season, went to work and put the Miners away.

Deron Johnson hit his third home run of the year in the fourth inning, Gwynn hit his first of the year with a man on in the fifth and catcher Dave Campagna hit his first home run of the year.