SAN DIEGO -- From the gaggle of radar-touting scouts, to San Diego State president Stephen Weber, to former NFL MVP Brian Sipe, to basketball coach Steve Fisher, to national-TV announcers, to a trio of national sportswriters, everyone, it seems, was in the record crowd of 3,072 at Tony Gwynn Stadium to see Stephen Strasburg.

And the Aztecs ace didn't disappoint, striking out 14 in seven innings en route to a 4-3 win over Texas Christian in a key Mountain West Conference baseball game Friday night. By beating No. 16-ranked TCU (25-12, 6-4 MWC), the No. 19 Aztecs (28-15, 10-6) moved into a tie with Brigham Young for second place in the conference, one game behind New Mexico.

Strasburg's only blemish was a seventh-inning, three-run home run allowed to Bryan Holaday.

"I didn't want (a) walk there with two men on," said Strasburg, who improved to 9-0 and now has 135 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings. "I threw a fastball over the plate, and I paid for it.

Strasburg's fastball was clocked consistently between 97-99 mph, hitting 100 on at least two pitches. The bulk of his strikeouts, however, came on his knee-buckling slider.

"My stuff was good," Strasburg said. "I hit the wall in the sixth inning. I don't know if it's because I had a (129-pitch) complete game last week or not. I was cramping up. It was really a nagging thing."

After 121 pitches, Aztecs pitching coach Rusty Filter decided that Strasburg had had enough.

"We don't like to let him go much beyond 115 pitches," Filter said. "The cramp thing hit him about the fifth inning. We have to keep him super hydrated. So the trainers pumped a bunch of fluids in him, and he was fine."

Andrew Leary replaced Strasburg in the eighth inning and ran into trouble, loading the bases with two outs. In came closer Addison Reed, who struck out pinch-hitter Jimmie Pharr. Reed struck out two more in the ninth to earn nation-leading 14th save.

Three Aztecs pitchers combined to strike out 18 hitters.

"I love that situation," Reed said of the eighth inning. "I just try and clutch up. But there was no margin for error."

There is no margin for error in the standings, either.

"This is a big win," Strasburg said. "We took two of three from TCU at their place and need to do the same here. This is a rivalry that is similar to USD for us.

"And the atmosphere here tonight was great. I've never seen the stadium sold out.

"All the personal stuff aside, honestly, I'm just happy we came out with a win."

Contact staff writer John Maffei at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.