Surprises In The MWC Tournament
Number one seed Nevada gets ushered out like a noisy patron at a movie. San Jose State is still in after they pummeled the Wolf Pack in an elimination game. UNLV and SDSU play a 12 inning classic as the Aztecs prevail in a winners’ bracket game. That means SJS and UNLV play in an elimination game to see which team faces SDSU in the championship round.
Nevada
The Pack really didn’t show up as they lost both of their games by a combined score of 26-14. They lose to the Rebels in the first game 13-8 after trailing early and they tying the game at 8. The pen then came in and gave up 5 runs in the top of the ninth and that was that. This was not a pitcher’s duel. They then lost game two and went home after San Jose State scored 4 in the top of the first and never trailed as the Spartans won easily 13-6. The Pack’s freshman Jake Jackson didn’t have it as he gave up 7 runs in 2 2/3 IP and took the loss. The Spartans Tevin Cadola went 6 1/3 IP for the win and was very good until the 6th inning when he seemed to tire. The pen took care of the rest. Dillan Shrum had two home runs in the SJS game but it wasn’t enough. The Spartans’ David Campbell went 3 for 6 with 4 RBIs and Shane Timmons went 3 for 5. In the UNLV game, Cole Krzmarzick went 3 for 4 and Kaleb Foster had a home run for the Pack. Pitching did them in for the two games, no doubt about it.
San Jose State
The Spartans split their two games losing a match up of the two best pitchers in the Mountain West. San Jose State’s Andrew Mitchel absorbed the loss as he went 6 1/3 IP giving up both runs and striking out 9 and Garret Hill went the same giving up 1 run. Final score of 2-1 tells the tale of a well-pitched game and it was. The Spartans came back in their second game against Nevada and won big 13-6. Details can be seen above in the Nevada writeup.
San Diego State
They won both of their games. They beat SJS (see above) and UNLV in 12 innings in a real squeaker 4-3. Another game where pitching was most of the story as UNLV’s Trevor Horn went 8 IP with nothing to show for it other than an excellent outing. UNLV was led by Dillon Johnson as he went 4 for 5 with an RBI. SDSU’s Matt Rudick went 3 for 6. Jordan Verdon’s sac fly in the bottom of the 12th scored the winning run. This win keeps them undefeated in the tournament and puts them in the championship round as they will face either UNLV or SJS, both of which have a loss.
UNLV
Their first game as the number 4 seed was against Nevada and they showed that they were not impressed as they won easily 13-8. You can read some details in the Nevada section above. Basically, the top of the lineup did the heavy lifting as the first five in the lineup had 10 hits and 9 RBIs. They also scored in 5 of the first 6 innings showing they never let up before scoring the 5 runs in the ninth to put this one away.
Saturday’s first game (1:30 PM PT) will pit SJS against UNLV and the winner catches its breath to face SDSU at 6 PM PT in the championship round. If one of the two teams in the elimination game happen to win and face the Aztecs, they must win two games to win the championship while SDSU only has to win a single game. I’m guessing Nevada will not get an at-large bid and SJS and UNLV have to win out to get that bid. SDSU is in good position for the automatic and might even get an at-large if they lose. Anyway, stay tuned.