College baseball weekend: Aztecs pitcher's no-no a product of perspective gained from previous outing
SDSU right-hander Jacob Riordan no-hit New Mexico in first start following ejection at Hawaii; UCSD, USD, Cal State San Marcos all eye first place San Diego State's Jacob Riordan pitched the ninth no-hitter in school history last week against New Mexico. The victory, which boosted the struggling Aztecs to their first series victory of the season, was made more special for Riordan as his mother, Sherry Mezze, was in attendance for the first time. The team split a two-game nonconference series at Cal Poly and remains on the road this weekend at San Jose State. Riordan, who moved into the No. 1 role after strong start to the season and emotional presence, has been ejected from the game twice this season for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Published : a month ago by Kirk Kenney in Sports
San Diego State right-hander Jacob Riordan pitched the ninth no-hitter in school history last week against New Mexico.
San Diego State pitcher Jacob Riordan watched a ground ball to second base become the final out in last week’s no-hitter against New Mexico, then let the magnitude of moment wash over him.
“It took me a second to take it all in,” Riordan said, “because you don’t quite know if it’s something that will ever happen in your career.
“A feeling of gratefulness came through me as my whole team stormed me on the mound. Very, very exciting moment, but it took me some time to really fully take in what happened there.”
It was made more special for Riordan, a 6-foot-4 graduate transfer from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, because his mother, Sherry Mezze, was in attendance for the first time.
Riordan struck out eight, walked six and hit a batter in the 13-0 seven-inning, run-rule victory over the Lobos at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
“He pretty much dominated them,” said SDSU coach Shaun Cole said.
The six walks, scattered over five innings, may actually have helped keep the New Mexico hitters off balance.
“He’s always been effectively wild,” Cole said. “His delivery is funky. He’s got a low slot. Right-handed hitters it looks like it’s coming behind them. He’s a guy who is going to run a fastball or two across your face every once in awhile, too.
“The one thing he always has in his back pocket is he can land that slider most of the time. You get a fastball across your face and then a slider low and away, it’s a tough AB.”
It was just the ninth no-hitter in the program’s 89-year history, though the second in two seasons. T.J. Fondtain held Nevada hitless a year ago.
The victory boosted the struggling Aztecs (9-18, 4-8 Mountain West) to their first series victory of the season.
SDSU split a two-game nonconference series this week at Cal Poly and remains on the road this weekend at San Jose State (9-19, 4-8), which has had struggles of its own after being picked for first place in a preseason coaches poll.
Riordan (3-1, 3.60 ERA, 39 strikeouts/30 walks) is scheduled to get the ball for Friday’s opener. He moved into the No. 1 role after a strong start to the season, based on his performance and presence.
“He’s an emotional guy, which is one of the reasons that I like him on the mound,” Cole said. “I think that presence is needed on our team. I think they feed on it, but it can also get him into a little trouble.”
Riordan got himself into trouble two weeks ago at Hawaii when he was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct after fielding a third-inning comebacker in which he made the play himself at first base.
Riordan stared down Hawaii hitter Austin Machado all the way to the bag. Machado and Riordan exchanged a few words after the play, and the next thing the pitcher knew, he was out of the game.
“The runner said something to me,” Riordan said, “and I said something back that I shouldn’t have said. It just kind of happened in the moment. Looking back on it now, I could have been better and kept myself in the game.”
SDSU led 3-0 at the time. Hawaii came back for a 16-5 victory.
Cole said umpires are making unsportsmanlike conduct a point of emphasis this season, which may explain why Riordan was ejected rather than given a warning.
“He pitches off of emotion,” Cole said. “I’ve had to talk to him a few times this year about popping off, telling him, No. 1, it’s going to take you out of your game and, No. 2, it’s not a good look.”
A four-game suspension accompanied the ejection, preventing Riordan from being on the bench with his teammates, or even at the ballpark.
“It hurt him to get thrown out of that game and not be with the team,” Cole said. “I think he was heavily motivated to come out and pitch.”
Riordan said the time away allowed him to take a step back, evaluate what happened, learn from it and move forward.
“I’ve just got to channel the emotion toward my team,” Riordan said. “It can’t be anything negative that goes toward the other team.”
That mindset paid immediate dividends against New Mexico.
“I knew I had to come back strong,” Riordan said. “I was very happy to be back on the field with the team and have that impact right from the go.
“I wanted to put a statement on my next outing. That’s exactly what I did.”
University of San Diego (17-10, 4-2 WCC) boosted its winning streak to six games with Tuesday’s 9-3 nonconference win over USC.
The stretch includes four straight West Coast Conference victories, three of them in last week’s sweep at Pacific.
USD right-hander Logan Reddemann earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors on Monday for a seven-inning, 10-strikeout relief appearance against Pacific.
The Toreros, tied for second place with three other teams, host Loyola Marymount (12-17, 1-5) this weekend.
• UC San Diego (19-7, 6-3 Big West), which lost 5-0 Wednesday in a nonconference game at USC, finds itself in a four-way tie for second in the Big West as it heads to Long Beach State (15-10-1, 4-5).
UCSD (3.29 ERA, 255 SO) and Long Beach State (3.26 ERA, 264 SO) feature the conference’s top two pitching staffs.
Right-handers Matthew Dalquist (4-0, 3.00 ERA, 34 SO/7 BB) and Anthony Eyanson (3-1, 2.97 ERA, 44 strikeouts/9 walks) have been the Tritons’ most effective starting pitchers.
• Point Loma Nazarene (27-8-1, 18-5-1 PacWest) has the weekend off after splitting Tuesday’s nonconference doubleheader against Westmont.
Second-place PLNU, which leads the PacWest in offense (.313, 6.9 rpg) and pitching (4.02 ERA), doesn’t resume conference play until April 19 against Azusa Pacific.
• Cal State San Marcos (17-11, 16-7 CCAA) remains in the thick of the California Collegiate Athletic Association race, a half-game behind first-place Cal State Monterey Bay (21-11, 17-7).
San Marcos, which meets Sonoma State (14-16, 8-12) this weekend, features the CCAA’s top two hitters in third baseman Garrett Teunissen (.417, 3 HR, 22 RBIs) and left fielder Phoenix Sommay (.402, 3 HR, 22 RBIs).
The Cougars also have two of the conference’s top run producers in second baseman Luke Reece and center fielder Cameron Mahaffy, who have 31 and 29 RBIs, respectively.
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