Aztecs Amble Past Toreros With 16 Walks

In baseball vernacular, home plate is sometimes called the dish. To the University of San Diego pitchers Wednesday night at Smith Field, the dish must have looked more like a saucer.

Four USD pitchers gave up 16 walks and the 15th-ranked San Diego State had only 4 hits while winning the season opener for both teams, 7-5.

“How do you explain 16 walks?” USD Coach John Cunningham said. “Take those out and it’s a whole different ball game.”

The tone was set early when San Diego State’s second batter, Brian Dunn, walked off USD starter James Ferguson and later scored on Jeff Barry’s double for a 1-0 Aztec lead. Four other Aztec runners would also walk and eventually score.

“It was the first game and (the pitchers) wanted to throw the ball hard,” USD freshman catcher Sean Gousha said. “They tried to muscle up and go beyond what they could do.”

Ferguson, a 6-foot 7-inch sophomore and the Toreros’ best pitcher, spent most of Tuesday in bed with the flu. Although he walked 8 Aztec batters in 4 innings, he allowed just 2 hits and 1 earned run, but was victimized by 2 USD errors and left trailing, 3-0.

“Ferguson was one-third what he normally is,” Cunningham said. “Nobody hit him hard.”

San Diego State starter John Hemmerly didn’t have as much trouble finding the plate. In 6 innings, Hemmerly, a junior, walked 4 but allowed just 2 hits and 1 run.

“I felt good,” said Hemmerly, who was limited to 100 pitches. “I threw mostly fastballs. I wanted to keep going but coach wanted me to come out. I wanted to go a strong 5 (innings) at least.”

The hardest hit ball of the game, and the one that put the game out of reach for USD, was a 2-1 high fastball from Dave Monastero that Aztec left fielder Brian Lutes smacked over the left-field fence in the seventh inning. The drive over the 365-foot mark scored Dunn, who had reached on a fielder’s choice and Harry Henderson, who had walked, to put the Aztecs ahead, 7-2.

In the top of that inning, USD, trailing 4-1, scored a run off Aztec reliever John Marshall. Jim Alexander fisted a single into left field to score Rick Doane and close the gap to 4-2. With runners on first and second and 2 out, pinch hitter Chris Stout, lined down the left-field line with the ball falling foul by inches. Gousha, who was on second, would have scored and Alexander, who had a good jump off first might have as well. Stout grounded to second on the next pitch and Marshall and the Aztecs survived a scare.

USD got to Marshall for a run in the eighth and 2 in the ninth before Paul Austin came in to catch pinch-hitter Devin Bundy looking at strike three with a runner on second.

“I was pleased,” SDSU Coach Jim Dietz said. “USD is always tough on us. I thought we hit the ball pretty good. We did a lot of things well. I was really pleased for a first game. USD will be just fine.”

For USD, Andy Roberts hit 2 doubles in 4 at-bats and scored twice, Alexander was 2 for 4 with 2 runs batted in and Gousha impressed SDSU by throwing out 3 of 5 potential base stealers.