SDSU’s Win Streak Hits 13 With Victory Against UCSD, 10-3

Don’t look now, but streaking is back in style at San Diego State University.

The Aztec baseball team won its 13th consecutive game Tuesday night, 10-3, over UC San Diego in a nonconference game at SDSU’s Smith Field.

That’s not all. SDSU catcher Jeff Champ and outfielder Brian Lutes both extended their hitting streaks to eight games. And it was UCSD’s third consecutive loss.

SDSU, which is 32-13-1 and ranked 20th in the nation in this week’s NCAA Division I Collegiate Baseball/ESPN poll, has equaled the victory total of last year’s team, which finished 32-28-1.

UCSD, which is eighth in the nation in the Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III poll, is 20-12.

“Every game now is important for us,” Jim Dietz, SDSU coach, said. “We needed to win because we lost a couple of games we should have won earlier in the season. We’re fighting for wins and recognition right now.

“I told our players in the meeting after the game that there’s a big difference between this year’s team and last year’s team. We lost nearly our whole pitching staff (John Hemmerly and Greg Page are the lone returners) and had to rebuild it.”

Nearly everyone contributed to the Aztec cause. SDSU’s first five batters--Brian Dunn, John Anderson, Steve Montejano, Chuck McInnis and Lutes--all reached base and scored at least once.

The Aztecs jumped on UCSD for four first-inning runs on a McInnis sacrifice fly, which scored Dunn; a Lutes triple, which scored Anderson and Montejano, and a Lance Pinnell single, which scored Lutes.

SDSU picked up another run in the third before UCSD threatened to make things close in the fifth when Gary Fessia ripped a Hemmerly inside fastball for his eighth home run of the year, a three-run shot over the left-field fence.

At that point, Dietz lifted Hemmerly for Dave Riddle, who promptly ended the inning by getting a groundout and a strikeout. In all, he struck out four of the five batters he faced, earning a win for his performance and improving his record to 3-2. Dave Adamson (4-2) was the starter and loser for UCSD.

“I thought Hemmerly might have taken them a little lightly,” Dietz said. “He kept shaking off the catcher and throwing his fastball. I wanted him to throw more off-speed pitches.”

SDSU came back with three runs in the fifth, and then scored a run each in the seventh and eighth.

Pinnell finished with four runs batted in, Lutes had three and McInnis two.

The game didn’t end without some controversy, however. With the score 9-3, Montejano lofted a fly ball to diving UCSD center fielder Kevin Willett in the eighth. The umpires ruled it a base hit, and pinch-runner Anthony Johnson scored. UCSD Coach Lyle Yates was ejected for arguing, and three UCSD players were tossed out as the inning progressed for arguing from the dugout.