San Diego College Baseball : SDSU Emerges From the Celler Into WAC Race

San Diego State is back in the Western Athletic Conference baseball race. The Aztecs won a doubleheader from Utah Wednesday at Smith Field to improve their record to 8-8 in the conference (29-20-1 overall).

Two weeks ago, it looked as if SDSU would get buried in the WAC race as it lost seven of its first eight conference games and fell into last place. Wednesday, the Aztecs beat the Utes, 7-1 and 6-2, to complete a four-game sweep and pull within 2 1/2 games of front-running BYU and Hawaii in the WAC. BYU and Hawaii (both 10-5) played late Wednesday night in Honolulu.

Against Utah, the Aztecs started quickly and never looked back. SDSU rolled to a win in the first game behind the four-hit pitching of Rusty Elsberry (4-5). Bob Parry hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and Steve Hill had three hits and three RBIs.

In the second game, Steve Montejano hit a two-run home run in the second inning. Nikco Riesgo had two hits and two RBIs and Tony Faryniarz (5-2) went the first five innings to pick up the win.

SDSU will get a chance to move closer to the top in the WAC this weekend when it plays host to BYU Friday and Saturday in a four-game series at Smith Field. Hawaii will be in San Diego for a four-game series May 2 through May 4. The top two teams in the WAC’s Southern Division will qualify for the WAC playoffs May 8 through May 10.