The Bonita Vista High School baseball team defeated the visiting Green Valley Gators from Henderson, Nev., in Monday’s Classic Division opening round game in the 69th annual San Diego Lions tournament.
The Gators took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. The Barons came back to score two runs in the bottom of the frame and that would be it for scoring in the contest.
Senior DiMaggio Cazares doubled and came home on an RBI-double by senior Isaac Almendarez. Freshman Josh Bruce then grounded out to score Almendarez.
Bonita Vista would only get four hits in the game but made two of them count.
Omar Vega started on the mound for the hosts and pitched five innings with five strikeouts to pick up the win. Cazares came into the game in relief, pitching two innings with two walks and three strikeouts to get the save.
The two BV hurlers scattered eight Green Valley hits and walked five batters but managed to get out of potential danger.
Vega evened his season record at 1-1 after collecting the win. He has fashioned a 1.91 earned-run average in four game appearances.
Cazares has a 2.03 ERA in eight games.
First-year Baron head coach Dave Palet was pleased his team was able to record the victory as the tournament strives to include top 25-ranked teams from around the nation.
“The Lions tournament has become an institution in San Diego — it’s a tournament everyone wants to be part of,” Palet said. “We’re proud to play in it because we think it’s the best in-season tournament in the country.”
The Classic Division featured four pools of four teams each. Bonita Vista competed in Pool D alongside St. Augustine and Maranatha Pasadena.
The Barons finished pool play with a 2-1 record after dropping a 7-5 decision to St. Augustine on Tuesday and topping Maranatha Pasadena, 6-3, on Wednesday.
“Just like in the regular season, the first win is the hardest to come by,” Palet said. “When we looked them (Green Valley) up, we saw they were one of the best teams in their state. We were lucky to come up with the win.”
Wednesday’s victory raised the Barons’ season record to 10-10.
The Barons opened the season with key wins over El Capitan (7-1 on Feb. 19) and Granite Hills (4-0 on Feb. 23) before dropping contests to Rancho Bernardo (5-3 on Feb. 26), Poway (6-3 on Feb. 28) and Santana (2-1 in eight innings on March 1) to close the Hilltop tournament.
Bonita Vista promptly reeled off four victories to start the GMC (Grossmont-Metro-City) tournament, topping Serra (5-2 on March 4), Christian (6-3 on March 6), Coronado (9-0 on March 11) and Clairemont (8-2 on March 13).
The Barons dropped a 9-3 tournament decision to Point Loma on March 15 but bounced back to defeat Christian for a second time in the tournament by a commanding 15-1 score on March 16.
Mesa League play opened right after that, with Bonita Vista drawing defending league champion Eastlake in a two-game series. The Titans won both hotly contested games by scores of 2-1 and 2-0.
The Barons split an ensuing two-game series with Montgomery and Hilltop to pull to a 2-4 league record heading into the Lions tournament.
Bonita Vista closes out league play with two-game series against San Ysidro (April 24 and 26), Otay Ranch (May 1 and 3) and Chula Vista (May 6 and 8).
The Barons hope to score high enough in the rankings to qualify for the upcoming San Diego Section Division II playoffs.
“We started out hot but the big thing with this team is learning how to close out games,” Palet said. “We lost 2-1 and 2-0 to Eastlake (then ranked first in the section). We feel we can play against anybody. We just need to play a solid seven innings. There always seems to be something that bites us.”
ADD LIONS TOURNAMENT: Otay Ranch (Premier Division), Chula Vista (4A Division) and Southwest (3A Division) all qualified for Thursday’s San Diego Lions tournament semifinals.
Otay Ranch finished 2-1 in pool play to advance against Mission Hills. Chula Vista finished 3-0 in pool play to draw San Dieguito Academy while Southwest finished 3-0 in pool play to draw Mt. Miguel.
Semifinal winners advance to division championship games, also played on Thursday.
Lions Tournament Championship Playoffs
Open Division
Semifinals: Newbury Park vs. Las Vegas Desert Oasis 7,Newbury Park; Helix 3, Poway 2
Championship: Las Vegas Desert Oasis 15, Helix 5 at Granite Hills High School
Classic Division
Semifinals: Clairemont 4, Coronado 2; St. Augustine 2, San Marcos 0
Championship: St. Augustine 4, Clairemont 2 at Hickman Field
Premier Division
Semifinals: Thousand Oaks 4, Steele Canyon 2; Otay Ranch 5, Mission Hills 3
Championship: Thousand Oaks 4, Otay Ranch 0 at Santa Fe Christian
6A Division
Semifinals: Nevada Coronado 4; San Pedro 1; Point Loma 9, Bishop’s 4
Championship: Point Loma 7, Nevada Coronado 6 at Francis Parker School
5A Division
Semifinals: Escondido 4, Monte Vista 3; Sacramento McClatchy 9, Foothills Christian 0
Championship: Escondido 8, Sacramento McClatchy 1 at Monte Vista High School
4A Division
Semifinals: Classical Academy 5, Mt. Carmel 2; San Dieguito Academy 3, Chula Vista 2
Championship: Classical Academy 9, San Dieguito Accademy 2at Mt. Carmel High School
3A Division
Semifinals: Southwest 10, Mt. Miguel 1; Valley Center vs. Tri-City Christian
Championship: Southwest 9, Tri-City Christian 1 at Mt. Miguel
2A Division
Semifinals: West Hills de Toledo 3, Granada Hills Valley Arts 0; Brentwood Heritage 13, Escondido Charter 10
Championship: Brentwood Heritage 13, West Hills de Toledo 8 at San Diego High School
1A Division
Championship: Caruthers 9, Yreka 8 at Cathedral Catholic High School
Alumni Report
SDSU baseball team defeats Cal State Fullerton, 6-1
Aztecs have won five of their last six against the Titans
Now winners of four in a row and six of their last eight, the San Diego State baseball team defeated Cal State Fullerton, 6-1, at Goodwin Field on April 12. The Aztecs earned their 20th win of the season and improved to 20-14, while the Titans fell to 14-16.
Three of SDSU’s six runs came via a home run, as Jaden Fein hit a solo homer to lead off the second inning and Julian Escobedo (Eastlake) hit a two-run shot in the fifth. Both homers marked as Fein and Escobedo’s third of the season.
On the mound, Justin Goossen-Brown posted six shutout innings with only three hits allowed while walking two and striking out four. After allowing a leadoff single in the third, Goossen-Brown faced retired each of the next nine batters and faced the minimum over his next 12 batters faced, allowing just one hit by pitch over that run.
Fresh off his Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week honors, Adrian Mardueno came into the game in the sixth inning with a two-man-on, no-out situation. Mardueno proceeded to strikeout each of the next two batters he faced before allowing a walk to load the bases. The walk proved to be harmless, however, as Mardueno finished the inning with a strikeout of Fullerton’s Zach Weller to strand both of his inherited runners.
Brian Leonhardt (Eastlake) opened the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the first and in the next inning, Fein hit his third home run of the season to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Aztecs added a pair of runs in the fifth courtesy of Escobedo’s two-run blast. SDSU added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth, using a Chad Bible RBI double and a Ryan Orr sacrifice fly.
Jacob Flores shined in relief for the Aztecs, striking out four in 1.2 shutout innings with only one hit allowed.
Escobedo (2-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI), Leonhardt (2-for-4, R, RBI), and Bible (2-for-4, RBI) all recorded two hits each to lead the offense.
Goossen-Brown earned the win to improve to 5-1 on the year, while Cal State Fullerton’s Tanner Bibee fell to 4-5 on the year after allowing four runs on five hits in five innings pitched.
NOTES
– SDSU improved to 26-8 against the Big West since the start of the 2017 season and extend their win streak against Big West to six.
– SDSU matched its longest winning streak of the season at four games.
– SDSU improved to 101-49 (.673) over its last 150 games against California-based programs.
– SDSU is 52-9 in their last 61 games when scoring five or more runs and 26-2 when limiting their opponent to two or fewer runs.
– SDSU is 16-2 this season when out-hitting their opponent and have won 12 in a row in that situation.
– Justin Goossen-Brown recorded his fourth consecutive quality start and over his last three starts, Goossen-Brown has thrown 21 innings and allowed just two earned runs (0.86 ERA) on 11 hits and five walks while recording 20 strikeouts. The Aztecs are 7-1 in Goossen-Brown’s eight starts this season.
– Adrian Mardueno extended his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 15.1 and has struck out 17 batters over that span. Mardueno’s ERA of 1.46 and opponent batting average of .136 both remain the best marks in the Mountain West. Mardueno has stranded 16 of his 23 inherited runners including seven of his last eight.
– Matt Rudick extended his on-base streak to 28 games. Rudick has recorded a hit in 32 of 34 games and reached base in 33 of 34 games this season.
– Brian Leonhardt recorded his 13th multi-hit game, putting him in a tie for the team lead with Matt Rudick.
Early outburst leads SDSU to 13-7 win at Cal State Fullerton
SDSU extends winning streak to a season-best five games
The San Diego State baseball team extended its winning streak to a season-best five games and clinched its first series win at Cal State Fullerton since 1965 with a 10-4 win over the Titans on April 13 at Goodwin Field. SDSU improved its record to 21-14, while CSF dropped to 14-17.
The Aztecs scored nine runs before the end of the third inning to jump out to a 9-0 lead with three runs in the first and a six-spot in the third. Julian Escobedo (Eastlake) opened up the scoring with a solo home run in the first, giving the junior outfielder his fourth home run of the season and his second of the series. Brian Leonhardt (Eastlake) and Chad Bible both logged RBI singles before the completion of the three-run first inning.
Casey Schmitt (Eastlake) and Angelo Armenta led off the third inning with a hit by pitch and single, respectively, before Leonhardt drove both in on his team-leading 14th double of the season. Jaden Fein drove in Leonhardt on an RBI single just before Mike Jarvis brought in a pair on a 2-RBI single to left field. Matt Rudick capped the six-run third inning with a single through the right side, scoring Jarvis.
After being held scoreless from the fourth to the sixth, Ryan Orr tripled to right field allowing Devyn Lopez to score from first.
Fullerton faced a 10-1 deficit heading to the bottom of the seventh but scored a pair of runs to cut the lead to 10-3.
SDSU returned the favor and then some in the eighth, recording three runs with Leonhardt logging his fourth RBI on an unassisted groundout to first and a two-run single by Lopez.
SDSU starter Harrison Pyatt, making his first appearance since March 9, pitched a scoreless first inning. Michael Paredes took over for the Aztecs in the second and pitched the next 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
In addition to his four RBIs at the plate, Leonhardt earned his first collegiate win on the mound, allowing just one hit over 2.1 innings pitched. Leonhardt worked around three walks, allowing two runs in a 46-pitch outing.
Jacob Flores performed well out of the bullpen for the second consecutive day, allowing just one unearned run in the game’s final two innings.
Six Aztecs recorded two hits each, including Escobedo, Schmitt, Leonhardt, Bible, Orr, and Jarvis. The Aztecs went 10-for-23 (.435) with runners on base, 7-for-16 (.438) with runners in scoring position, and advanced runners on 17 of a possible 26 opportunities.
NOTES
– With the win, SDSU clinched its first road series win at Cal State Fullerton since 1965. The Aztecs had either lost or split seven consecutive series in Fullerton heading into this weekend’s series.
– SDSU improved to 9-3 when scoring in the first inning and 13-4 when scoring first this season.
– Over SDSU’s current season-best five-game winning streak, the Aztecs are hitting .323 as a team while limiting their opponents to a .215 average. On the mound, SDSU pitchers collectively own a 2.60 ERA over the winning streak, while the Aztec lineup has tagged opposing pitchers for a 7.16 ERA.
– SDSU is 34-1 in their last 35 games when scoring 10 or more runs.
SDSU unable to complete sweep at Cal State Fullerton
Aztecs have season-best five-game winning streak snapped
After clinching a series win on Saturday night, the San Diego State baseball team had its season-best five game winning streak snapped after a 7-2 loss to Cal State Fullerton at Goodwin Field on Sunday afternoon (April 14). The Aztecs fell to 20-15 on the season while the Titans improved to 15-17.
After Cal State Fullerton took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, the Aztecs responded with Jaden Fein’s two-run single in the top of the second scoring both Brian Leonhardt (Eastlake) and Chad Bible for a 2-1 edge.
Unfortunately for SDSU, that was all the offense the Aztecs were able to muster, as Cal State Fullerton regained the lead with a three-run bottom of the third before taking advantage of an Aztec error in a three-run bottom of the eighth.
Despite the loss, the Aztec bullpen performed well, as Aaron Eden, Adrian Mardueno and Casey Schmitt (Eastlake) combined for 5.1 innings without surrendering an earned run. Aztec starter Casey O’Sullivan (Valhalla) fell to 3-3 on the year, allowing four earned runs on five hits and three walks.
Eden shined in the middle stages of the game, posting 2.2 shutout innings with only three hits allowed and no walks.
Fein led the Aztec lineup with the team’s only multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 with the team’s only 2 RBIs.
Cal State Fullerton’s Michael Knorr improved to 3-2 on the season after allowing two runs on six hits.
SDSU falls short at No. NR/21 UC Irvine, 6-5
Angelo Armenta drove in three of SDSU’s five runs
San Diego State fell to No. NR/21 UC Irvine by a score of 6-5 at Anteater Ballpark on Tuesday night (April 16). The Aztecs fell to 21-16 on the year, while the Anteaters improved to 22-9 on the season.
Back-to-back doubles by Eastlake High School alums Julian Escobedo and Casey Schmitt in the top of the first opened the door for Angelo Armenta to drive in the game’s first run, scoring Escobedo on a groundout to second base.
The Anteaters later scored five runs in the second inning, using three hits and three walks to take a 5-1 lead.
SDSU immediately answered back with a pair of runs, with Armenta recording an RBI double to centerfield to bring in his second and third RBIs of the night. An inning later, the Aztecs cut the deficit to just one with a Rudick sacrifice fly.
The Aztecs and Anteaters exchanged single runs in the second half of the game, with the Anteaters scoring a run in the fifth and Mike Jarvis hitting an RBI single in the top of the seventh to make it a 6-5 UCI lead.
The Aztecs were unable to overcome multiple one-run deficits despite standout performances out of the bullpen by Jacob Flores and Schmitt. The duo held UCI to just one hit over the game’s final three innings, including Schmitt’s effort in the bottom of the eighth where the sophomore struck out the side in order.
Daniel Ritcheson pitched a season-high four innings, allowing five hits, three runs, three walks while striking out a career-high eight.
Seven different Aztecs recorded one hit apiece. Armenta’s three RBIs led all players and tied his season-high.
The Aztecs were hindered by nine walks, a hit by pitch, two wild pitches and a pair of passed balls.
NOTES
– SDSU falls to 17-3 when out-hitting its opponent and had a 13-game winning streak in that situation snapped.
– SDSU recorded 12 strikeouts, giving the Aztecs their 21st 10-plus strikeout game of the season. That marks as the most 10+ strikeout games in a single season since SDSU recorded 23 in 2009.
– SDSU fell to 27-10 against the Big West since the start of the 2017 season.
SDSU holds off Air Force, 4-3
Aztecs strand game-tying run at third base in the ninth
In a game resumed from a snowy postponement in Colorado Springs on March 2, the San Diego State baseball team finished its game against Air Force with a 4-3 win on Thursday night (April 18) at Tony Gwynn Stadium. SDSU improved its record to 22-16 (8-6 Mountain West), while Air Force dropped to 16-20 (6-10 MW).
In Colorado Springs on March 2, SDSU set the tone early in the first with a double to right field by lead-off batter Matt Rudick. Angelo Armenta then hit an RBI single to center field for Rudick to score, putting the Aztecs in the lead 1-0. The Aztecs added another run in the second, with Deron Johnson doubling to bring home Casey Schmitt (Eastlake) to make it a 2-0 lead before snow halted the game from being continued.
Fast forward 47 days and 1,129 miles away, Aaron Eden came into the game with one out and two runners on in the bottom of the second. Eden stranded both of those inherited runners forcing Tommy Gillman to fly out to right field and a 1-3 groundout against Cole Blatford.
Aztecs got their Thursday-night scoring started n the top of the fifth, with Chad Bible and Devyn Lopez scoring on a double by Armenta to make it a 4-0 Aztec advantage. Air Force responded with their first run on an RBI single to shortstop by Nic Ready in the bottom of the fifth.
The Falcons made things interesting heading into the ninth inning, as the Aztecs started the inning off with a hit by pitch, a failed pickoff attempt allowing Gillman to reach second, and a Daniel Jones walk. Alexander Pup hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Gillman to narrow the Aztec lead to 4-2. After a passed ball brought the Falcons within one, Schmitt stranded the game-tying run at third and the game-winning run at second after striking out Falcon pinch hitter Ben Hauser.
Armenta recorded a season-high three RBIs for the second consecutive game, finishing the game 2-for-4, while Johnson also posted a 2-for-4 performance with a pair of doubles.
Eden (3-0) earned the win for the Aztecs, while Air Force’s Matt Hargreaves (2-3) took the loss after surrendering two runs and four hits in his start on March 2. Schmitt earned his fourth save of the year, recording two strikeouts in 1.0 shutout inning of relief.
NOTES
– San Diego State improved to 23-9 in their last 32 games against Air Force.
– Casey Schmitt reached base in his 13th consecutive game, tying his previous longest streak of the season. On the mound, Schmitt recorded the 13th save of his career (tied for seventh in SDSU history) and recorded his fourth consecutive appearance without allowing an earned run.
– Adrian Mardueno had a streak of 18 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run snapped in the ninth inning.
– Aaron Eden recorded his third consecutive appearance with one or zero earned runs allowed. Over Eden’s last 14.1 innings pitched, the freshman has allowed just two earned runs.
SDSU splits Friday doubleheader against Air Force
Aztecs win nightcap against Falcons, 6-3
The San Diego State baseball team split a doubleheader against Air Force on Friday (April 19), falling 5-2 in the afternoon before rebounding with a 6-3 win in the nightcap. SDSU now stands at 23-17 (9-7) on the year while Air Force is 17-21 (7-11).
Game 1: Air Force 5, San Diego State 2
Air Force used a pair of homers and an Ashton Easly RBI single in the game’s first two innings to take an early 4-0 lead. Starting in the third inning, however, Justin Goossen-Brown settled in nicely, allowing just one hit over his next seven innings pitched and at one point, retiring 15 consecutive batters before allowing a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth.
Goossen-Brown finished the day with 8.2 innings pitched — the longest outing by an Aztec this season — with six hits, four earned runs, two walks, and eight strikeouts. Christian Winston came in of relief of Goossen-Brown, who finished his outing with 116 pitches, and struck out the only batter he faced.
While Goossen-Brown held the Falcons at bay, the Aztecs put together a two-run sixth inning with a Casey Schmitt (Eastlake) RBI double, scoring Matt Rudick, and an infield single by Angelo Armenta to score Schmitt.
The Aztecs brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth after Jaden Fein recorded a one-out double and David Alamillo drew a four-pitch walk. Falcons reliever Nathan Price was able to force pinch hitter Jacob Cruce to fly out to deep center before Rudick flew out to left to end the game.
Air Force’s Jake Gilbert improved to 4-2, pitching six innings with four hits, two runs, one walk, and three strikeouts. Price earned the save, allowing two hits over three innings of relief.
Rudick and Fein led the Aztec lineup with two hits each.
Game 2: San Diego State 6, Air Force 3
A go-ahead RBI double by Mike Jarvis and a 2-RBI triple by Matt Rudick highlighted a game-clinching three-run eighth inning in a 6-3 win for SDSU in the nightcap. Air Force, which tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth with a Rob Dau RBI single, was held to just three hits – the lowest hit total posted by the Aztec pitching staff this season.
The duo of starter Michael Paredes and reliever Adrian Mardueno collectively allowed just three hits while striking out 13 over 8.2 innings pitched. Paredes threw 6.1 innings in his first career weekend start, allowing only one hit while surrendering two earned runs with four walks and eight strikeouts.
Paredes allowed a Tommy Gillman solo home run in the top of the first, but settled in and did not allow a hit for his remaining six innings. After recording a frame-opening strikeout in the seventh, Paredes ran into some control issues, walking the next two batters he faced before SDSU made the move to the bullpen.
A bases-loaded walk allowed Air Force to cut the lead to 3-2 in the seventh, but Mardueno, who inherited a bases-loaded situation and a 2-0 count, fought back and stranded all three inherited runners to preserve the one-run Aztec lead.
Mardueno earned the win on the mound for SDSU, throwing 2.1 innings with two hits, one run, no walks, and five strikeouts. With his seventh-inning effort, Mardueno has stranded 12 of the last 13 runners he has inherited.
From the top of the order, Matt Rudick reached base in all five of his plate appearances, drawing a pair of walks while going 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs. Chad Bible also recorded a three-hit performance, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Jaden Fein and Angelo Armenta went 2-for-4 and 2-for-5, respectively. Fein drove in two of SDSU’s first three runs, recording an RBI triple in the first before singling to right center in the third to score Rudick.
SDSU beats Air Force, 5-4, to capture series
Jacob Flores pitched four innings of two-hit, shutout relief
San Diego State baseball defeated Air Force 5-4 on Saturday (April 20) at Tony Gwynn Stadium to move into sole possession of second place in the Mountain West standings. The win for the Aztecs improves their record to 24-17 (10-7 MW), while Air Force falls to 17-22 (7-12 MW).
After starter Harrison Pyatt was replaced due to injury after a pair of batters, Jacob Flores performed impressively in his short-notice appearance, logging a career-high four innings while allowing just two hits with two walks and a career-high five strikeouts.
Trailing 2-0 heading to the bottom of the third, the Aztecs claimed the lead with a 2-RBI double by Casey Schmitt (Eastlake0 down the left field line, scoring both Angelo Armenta and Mike Jarvis. An inning later, Jarvis posted an RBI double of his own before Jaden Fein made it three consecutive innings with an Aztec run after launching his team-leading fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 5-2 lead.
Fein’s home run proved to be an important insurance run, as the Falcons clipped the lead to 5-4 with a solo home run in the ninth.
Schmitt recorded his fifth save of the year, allowing just one hit and one run while striking out a pair. Christian Winston also shined out of the bullpen, surrendering just one hit in 1.2 shutout innings of work.
From the eighth and ninth spots of the lineup, respectively, Ryan Orr (2-for-3, 2 R, 3B) and Mike Jarvis (2-for-4, R, RBI, 2B) led the Aztecs with two hits each. Orr’s two runs scored led all players in the game.
SDSU pitching held Air Force hitless in their eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.
NOTES
– San Diego State improves to 25-10 in their last 35 games against Air Force and 9-3 in their last 12 home games against the Falcons.
– Matt Rudick extended his in-conference on-base streak to 29 games, which carries over 12 games from the 2018 season.
– Jacob Flores extended his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 10.2 after four shutout innings on Saturday.
– SDSU is 8-2 this season and has won three in a row when playing on Saturdays this season.
