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Diamond Dons Take 5-3 Win Over San Diego State
March 14, 2010
(San Diego, CA) - San Francisco baseball earned the 5-3 win over Aztec Invitational host San Diego State (6-10) on Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. USF (9-8) finished the tournament at 2-2 and earned two spots on the All-Tournament Team.
Offensively, the Dons continued to dominate, smacking 10 hits to SDSU's five. Senior shortstop Derek Poppert led the way on Sunday, going 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Junior right fielder Connor Bernatz doubled on a two-hit day, and drove in two. Junior center fielder Pete Lavin also had two hits, and stole two bases. Freshman left fielder Jared Denham extended his team doubles lead with his eighth, and drove in a run. Sophomore first baseman Nik Balog also singled in a run. The Dons tallied 45 hits in the four-game tournament, including 14 doubles and six home runs.
USF junior lefty Garrett Luippold (1-0) earned his first win of the season, tossing 4.1 innings of relief. Luippold didn't allow a run off two hits and a walk, and struck out three Aztecs. San Diego State's Drew Leary (1-1) took the loss, giving up three earned runs off five hits and two walks.
San Diego State took a lead in the second, scoring all three of their runs. But the Dons made it 3-1 in the top of the third when Poppert doubled to left, scoring Bernatz who had singled to start the frame. USF then took the 5-3 lead in the sixth, plating four.
Poppert started the inning with a single and moved to second on a failed pick-off attempt. Senior catcher Ryan Lipkin was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second for Denham. The freshman doubled to right center, scoring Poppert and putting runners on second and third. Balog singled to left to plate Lipkin and with runners on the corners, Bernatz smacked a long double to right field scoring both Denham and Balog.
Junior third baseman Stephen Yarrow and Lavin were named to the 2010 Aztec Invitational All-Tournament team. In four games, Yarrow batted .444 (8-for-18) with two doubles, three homeruns (including a grand slam), nine RBI, and six runs scored. Lavin also batted .444 (8-for-18) with a homerun, four RBI, four runs scored and five stolen bases. Full team listed below.
USF returns home to host the University of Houston on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 2:00 PM at Benedetti Diamond.
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Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State and the University of San Diego are tri-champions of the 2010 Aztec Invitational as each finished with a 3-1 record and each went 1-1 against the other two.
Here's the all-tournament team consisting of 10 position players, three starting pitchers and a reliever:
POSITION PLAYERS
Corey Jones, Cal State Fullerton
Tyler Pill, Cal State Fullerton
Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton
Mike Ferraro, San Diego
Victor Sanchez, San Diego
Jordan Ribera, Fresno State
Bobby Coyle, Fresno State
Stephen Yarrow, San Francisco
Pete Lavin, San Francisco
Luke Stewart, UAB
STARTING PITCHERS
Matt Morse, Fresno State
Addison Reed, San Diego State
Sammy Solis, San Diego
RELIEF PITCHER
Dylan Floro, Cal State Fullerton
