Aztecs Win in 10th, Stay Alive

Steve Boucher was running just as fast as his one good leg and one bad leg would carry him, running for his team and toward Sunday.

It was near the end of San Diego State’s long Saturday, 13 hours after their 6 a.m. wake-up call and 19 innings into this day at the West I Regional at Stanford’s Sunken Diamond.

Boucher had been standing on second in the 10th with none out and the score tied, and now there was a wild pitch, and now he was belly-flopping across home, safe.

The Aztecs were safe. In 10 innings, they had defeated Southern Illinois, 4-3, long after they lost to No. 1 Stanford, 6-2, in Saturday’s 9 a.m. game.

Their victory over Southern Illinois means the Aztecs will meet Stanford again today at noon for the championship of the double-elimination tournament. The Aztecs must win that game to force another at 4, then win again for the title. All Stanford needs to do is win once.

But enough about the potential for a long day today. First, Saturday.

The Aztecs played Stanford in front of 3,347 fans clad mostly in Cardinal red. By the time they faced Southern Illinois, there were just 767 people left.

From first pitch to last, the Aztecs took a lead over Stanford, missed a few chances to increase it and lost. Most returned to their hotel too tired to eat and too depressed to sleep.

Then it was time to do it again.

“I was so tired I had a headache,” outfielder Jeff Barry said. “Every time I threw, it hurt my head. I’ve never been this tired before.”

Still, they battled and scrapped in the second game and watched as their clean-up hitter was robbed of a home run. They took a lead and lost it in the ninth. They saw second baseman Scott Dennison go down with an injury in the 10th, minutes before Boucher sprained an ankle when he got tangled up with Southern Illinois’ first baseman. The Aztecs called time out, taped him up and sent him back. Then there was a wild pitch . . .

The day started with Stanford. The Aztecs got a run in the first when Dennison doubled off the base of the left-field fence, and Eric Christopherson singled.

Then came the second, a source of frustration the rest of the day. Brian Grebeck and Anthony Johnson led off with singles, putting runners at first and second with none out. Up stepped first baseman Darin McGhee, all set to bunt the runners over.

He popped up, right to pitcher Stan Spencer.

“The big part of the game for us,” SDSU Coach Jim Dietz said. “If we get that down and follow it with a base hit, we have a three-run lead.”

But they didn’t. Instead, they left Grebeck and Johnson on base. Their only other run came in the sixth, when Johnson homered.

SDSU left eight on base, including seven in the first six innings. All that did was allow Spencer, Stanford’s ace, to get stronger. He ran his record to 14-1.

And he got all the offense he needed in the fourth. Stanford strung together four consecutive hits against SDSU starter Erik Plantenberg (10-5) and came out of it with four runs, making it 5-1.

Said Johnson: “We’ll be there in the championship game. We faced one of Stanford’s best pitchers and got 10 hits.”

Four hours later, the Aztecs’ bats were silent. Southern Illinois’ George Joseph held them hitless through four innings. SDSU finished with six hits and barely escaped.

Southern Illinois took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a Tim Davis home run. The Aztecs tied it in the sixth, when Dennison singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and then scored on Christopherson’s single.

Up stepped Barry, with Christopherson on first. He hit a ball hard into the swirling winds, deep toward left. Southern Illinois’ Ed Janke drifted back and leaped. His glove snaked over the seven-foot high fence and snared the ball.

You want more drama? Bottom of the eighth, score still 1-1, Bill Dunckel on first. Barry steps in and puts Joseph’s first pitch over the left-field fence, this time beyond the reach of Janke. Revenge.

But Southern Illinois tied it in the ninth after loading the bases with one out. After Kurt Archer relieved Rusty Filter, Southern Illinois scored one run on a double play and another on Brad Hollenkamp’s single to left.

In the 10th, Boucher singled up the middle and took second when shortstop Dave Wrona made a wild throw to first. Dunckel was walked intentionally. Up stepped Steve Dietz, who replaced Dennison in the top of the 10th. Strike one. Wild pitch. Aztecs win.

“In all the years I’ve been coaching at SDSU (19), that win was one of the better ones,” Dietz said. “It shows me the backbone of this team. I’ve had teams that would have been ready to get on the bus (after the Stanford loss).

“Most of these guys haven’t eaten a correct meal yet (today). It was one hell of a battle.”

He sighed. The day was finished.

“I’d hug each one of those guys if I could,” he said.

Aztec Notes

SDSU will probably start left hander Kevin Nielsen (4-3, 4.53 earned-run average); Stanford is undecided.