San Diego College Baseball : Aztecs Deliver Another Hawaiian Punch

Tony Faryniarz and Mike Erb took different roads to victory Saturday as San Diego State swept a doubleheader from Hawaii at Smith Field to pull even with the Rainbows in the Western Athletic Conference Western Division. The Aztecs, winners of 14 straight WAC games, will send right-hander Rusty Elsberry (5-5) against Hawaii freshman right-hander Mike Ponio (6-1) at 2 p.m. today in the battle for the division title in the finale of this four-game series.

When this series started Friday, Hawaii needed just one win to clinch the division championship and get home-field advantage in the playoffs. After Saturday’s sweep and an 8-7 come-from-behind Aztec victory Friday night, the Rainbows still need that win.

Faryniarz struggled but survived for 5 innings in the first game as SDSU won, 4-2. Erb struck out 11 in the second game, winning 7-1. “I didn’t have any breaking ball at all,” said Faryniarz, who allowed eight hits and issued three walks before giving way to reliever Matt Haar in the sixth inning.

Haar retired the final five batters to preserve the Aztecs’ win in the first game.

The Aztecs had gone ahead in the opener with three runs in the third inning. Deron Johnson drove in one run with single and Dave Campagna knocked in two with a double.

But Faryniarz was struggling. He threw 102 pitches in his 5 inning stint, but he worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third and he stranded two Hawaii runners in the fourth and fifth innings to hang on. In all, the Rainbows left 10 runners on.

In the second game, they weren’t able to threaten as often against Erb, the sophomore from Madison High in San Diego who picked up his ninth win of the season.

Hawaii scored a run in the first inning on four hits but did not get another hit until the sixth. Erb allowed only three hits over the final eight innings.

“In the first inning, I was just trying to throw the ball by the batters,” Erb said. “After that, I settled into a groove and started hitting the corners.”

The Aztecs scored single runs in the first, second and third innings, and scored two in the fourth to open a 5-1 lead. SDSU had only six hits off Jeff Vierra but made the most of three walks and two Hawaii errors.

Both teams have qualified for next weekend’s playoffs, but a win today would clinch not only the WAC Western Division title but also the home-field advantage for the playoffs.

The Aztecs were swept by the Rainbows in a four-game series at Honolulu last month. Now, Hawaii--ranked 12th in the country--is having its troubles here.

In other college baseball action:

UC San Diego 3-28, La Verne 5-10--UC San Diego set school records with 28 runs scored, 27 hits and 9 home runs in the second game of its doubleheader at La Verne.

Second baseman David Stanovich hit two solo homers in the first game and came back with two more in the second for UCSD. Bob Natal (4 for 6, five runs batted in), Brian Rude (4 for 6, five RBIs) and Gary Fessia (3 for 4, three RBIs) each hit a pair of homers in the second game.

With a 22-16-2 final regular-season record, UCSD is hoping for a berth in the Division III regional playoffs. La Verne (23-20-1) has lost to UCSD in two of their three games this season.

UCSD had a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning of the first game but starter Rick Nowak (5-3) got the loss after allowing single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. UCSD trailed, 2-1, early in the second game but came back with six in the second, five in the third, two in the fourth, four in the fifth, one in the sixth and nine in the seventh. UCSD starter Mark Sloan improved to 6-2.