Aztecs Gain a Split Against BYU

San Diego State’s baseball team split a doubleheader against Brigham Young to open Western Athletic Conference play Saturday at SDSU. A third game, a makeup of Friday’s rainout against the Cougars, ended late.

The Aztecs dropped the opener, 10-5, after BYU jumped to a 5-0 lead after three innings. Brad Gennaro’s fourth-inning grand slam, his first homer of the season, brought the Aztecs to within one. Catcher Rick Page was three for four with a double and an RBI for SDSU.

In game two, Derek Vinyard capped off a six-run fifth inning with a bases-loaded double. Vinyard picked up two hits, three RBIs and scored twice for the Aztecs (17-7-1). Benji Grigsby (6-0), who struck out nine and walked none, pitched the first complete game by an SDSU pitcher. BYU is 14-8, 1-1.

The University of San Diego split a doubleheader at Santa Clara, winning their sixth consecutive West Coast Conference game, 12-2, before losing the nightcap, 9-7. Mike Saipe, a freshman from University City, threw a six-hitter in the opener to improve to 4-1. The Toreros scored four runs in the top of the first before losing the second game and dropping to 14-13, 7-4. The Broncos are 8-18, 4-6.

Point Loma Nazarene split a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader with Westmont. The host Crusaders won the opener, 9-1, then saw their bats go cold in a 2-0 loss in the nightcap. Rich Miller went three for four with four RBIs and Jack Campbell three for three, while PLNC pitcher Craig Van Hulzen (2-4) held Westmont to four hits in the first game. The Crusaders lost the second game despite eight hits and a three-hit pitching performance by Galen Ishii (1-1). PLNC is 10-13-1, 2-6. Westmont is 8-10-1, 4-4-1.

MEN’S TENNIS

USD’s Jose Luis Noriega, the nation’s top-ranked singles player, got a scare from 30th-ranked Matt Summer before he walked away with the 6-7 (8-6), 6-2, 6-0 victory. The Toreros went on to defeat Dartmouth, 6-3, in a nonconference match at USD (10-2).

The Toreros won at the top four singles, and the first two of three doubles matches. It was Dartmouth’s season opener.

MEN’S SWIMMING

Travis Miller won his second NCAA Division III individual championship in as many years with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke in Buffalo, N.Y.

Miller, a UC San Diego sophomore, won the event in 1 minute 49.93 seconds. Miller also swam the anchor leg of the Tritons’ 400 free relay, which finished second to Kenyon College.

With its 13th consecutive team championship, Kenyon became the first team, in any sport, and in any division, to win 13 NCAA titles in a row. Kenyon finished with 646, the second highest total in Division III history. UCSD was second with 361 points.

OFFSHORE RACING

High winds and rain delayed the San Diego Race for Sea Life powerboat racing off the Mission Bay Jetty for an hour, but the racing eventually started in 4- to 6-foot swells.

Ten of the 22 competitors dropped out of the race, not including Tom Pappas of Santa Barbara, the long course winner. Pappas completed the 128-mile course at an average speed of 74.56 m.p.h. Robert Middleton of Cucamonga, Calif., was the short-course winner with winning speed of 60 m.p.h.