Sweep of UCLA has Aztecs ready to climb Mountain

By: MICHAEL KLITZING - Staff Writer | Sunday, March 18, 2007 9:34 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg unleashed an emphatic fist pump after his sharply breaking slider froze Brandon Crawford to put San Diego State's 5-3 win over UCLA in the books Sunday afternoon.

Consider it the Aztecs' proclamation that you can officially close the book on last year's lost season.

It was a exactly year ago today that the San Diego State baseball team was walloped by UCLA to cap a three-game sweep in which the Aztecs were outscored by 26 runs and fell 14 games under .500 in what was to be a 23-36 disaster.

Sunday at Tony Gwynn Stadium, the Aztecs turned the tables on the Bruins behind a strong outing from sophomore starting pitcher Lance Sewell, completing their first series sweep over a Pac-10 team since taking four from Washington State in 1997. It was their first sweep of UCLA since 1977.

"It's nice to come out and sweep them this year," Sewell said. "Especially after the way they trampled us last year."

As they prepare to open their conference schedule Thursday at Air Force, the Aztecs are far from trampled, sporting a 15-11 record after navigating though a treacherous early slate.

"I'm saying if we're 15-11, we're playing pretty good baseball," head coach Tony Gwynn said. "Again, we're going to have to win games ---- that's the only way to get respect. But I think this weekend went a long way in giving these guys the kind of confidence they're going to need."

Despite struggling with his command (four walks), the left-hander Sewell survived six innings, allowing just one run and stranding seven runners for his team-best fourth win of the season.

"The whole game, I didn't have my best stuff," Sewell said. "I just worked with what I had, battled and somehow I got the job done. I don't know how, but I did."

After the Aztecs scored 20 runs in the first two games of the series, UCLA (8-13) hung around behind Rancho Buena Vista High graduate Gavin Brooks, who allowed five runs (four earned) in 6 1/3 innings.

Trailing 1-0 in the second, the Aztecs broke through against Brooks on an RBI single by second baseman Garett Green, catcher Chris Anderson's fly ball that became an RBI double when Bruins right fielder Gabe Cohen fell down, and an RBI single by center fielder Brandon Glover.

Glover also drove home a run in the fourth on a drag-bunt single.

Strasburg, who induced a double play to get out of an eighth-inning jam, faced four batters in the ninth for his third save of the year.

Contact staff writer Michael Klitzing at mrklitzing@gmail.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.

7 beached pilot whales die on Galapagos Islands; 5 returned to sea

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) ---- Seven pilot whales that came ashore on the Galapagos Islands died Sunday, despite the efforts of rescuers who dug makeshift pools in the sand to keep them from dehydrating. Five other whales in the group were returned to the ocean.

The whales, which are 10 to 30 feet long, came ashore late Saturday near the southern town of Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island, the largest of the Galapagos, said Rosa Leon, a spokeswoman for the Galapagos National Park.

The Galapagos Islands, 625 miles off Ecuador's coast, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 for their exotic flora and fauna, including giant tortoises, marine iguanas and blue-footed boobies.

A study of finches on the islands inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.