EDWARD LEWIS
SDSU Daily Aztec
SAN DIEGO (U-WIRE) – Garett Green believes his team has finally turned a corner.
After the San Diego State baseball team beat Utah twice at Franklin Covey Field in Salt Lake City, the senior second baseman is confident that SDSU has arrived.
“Our team is starting to click,” Green said. “It’s about that time where we’re starting to figure things out.
“We’re starting to see results and doing what coaches have been telling us and it’s helped us out.”
The Aztecs came out strong on March 22 and never looked back as they scored five early runs on five hits in the top of the first inning. Junior third baseman Nick Romero hit a three-run homerun with no outs in the inning and finished 2-for-4 with three RBI’s and one run scored.
SDSU would go on to score three more runs in the second inning, providing J.R. Murphy with more runs than he would need to pick up the win.
The senior pitcher went 7 and 1/3 innings, allowed just two earned runs, struck out eight batters and picked up the win in the Aztecs’ 9-3 victory over the Utes.
“J.R. Murphy, pitching wise, has definitely (been impressive),” Green said. “Coming into the game (Saturday) against Utah we were 1-1 (in the series) and he pitched as well as I’ve ever seen him pitch.”
The win marked SDSU’s fifth Mountain West Conference victory of the year and the difference between league play and non-conference games has been night and day. The Aztecs (12-10, 5-1 in MWC play) have outscored their two conference opponents, BYU and Utah, by a total of 45-27, but lost nine of 16 non-league games.
“One thing we’ve seen is that we’re a streaky team,” Green said. “It’s good for us to start out the season (well) in league and if we can keep this going it’s only going to benefit us.
“Of course, we’d like to keep the streaking on the winning side.”
Green and SDSU looked to continue the winning streak against UCLA at 6 p.m. March 25 at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Bruins came to San Diego fresh off three straight losses to Long Beach State over the weekend, and also carry a losing streak against the Aztecs. Last season, SDSU swept UCLA (10-8) in three games and Green is certain they’ll have revenge in mind.
“We know they’re going to come out gunning for us,” Green said. “Hopefully we can hold down our home field and come out with a win.”
