SAN DIEGO (U-WIRE) -- Making his regular season debut at Tony Gwynn Stadium Sunday, senior pitcher Ryan Schroyer found himself in a tenuous spot -- and he passed the test with flying colors.

The highly touted Arizona State transfer came into the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded and his club only up by three runs. Although Schroyer walked in one run, he would get out of the inning with the lead.

His effort was critical for an 11-7 victory for the San Diego State baseball team over Sacramento State (2-1) -- the 2,000th win in Aztec baseball history. Schroyer pitched two and a third innings, striking out five of the nine batters he faced for his second save of the season.

"I was just trying to throw strikes," Schroyer said. "I made the cardinal sin of walking in a run, but I struck out the next guy."

SDSU (4-4) jumped the Hornets early, scoring the first eight runs of the game. The team got the ball rolling with its first batter of the game as junior center fielder David Hall smashed a home run over the left-center fence.

The big inning for the Aztecs, though, was the bottom of the third, when they scored four times. A two-run single by freshman left fielder Brandon Rauch was the climax of the rally, sending home senior third baseman Chad Corona and senior first baseman Rielly Embrey.

Freshman designated hitter Brock Ungricht and sophomore Sam Pepper also had RBI singles in the inning. Ungricht went 4-for-5 on the day with three RBI and a run scored.

"Ungricht has really stepped in and done one hell of a job," head coach Tony Gwynn said. "He's really established himself as a guy who's gonna be a factor on this club. It's been awhile since I've seen a freshman as poised as him."

Pitcher Chris Hartshorn got the win, improving his record to 2-0. The senior threw five and a third innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts.

Through the first four innings of the game, the Hornets couldn't do much against Hartshorn with just two hits. Things would change in the fifth, when Sacramento State began to chip away at the eight-run lead behind a two-run home run off the bat of Jack Arroyo.

"Nothing is easy," Gwynn said. "Early on we did some good things. I don't think Hartshorn ran out of gas, I just think his location wasn't good anymore. He got a couple of pitches up and a guy [Arroyo] hits a two-run home run to get them back in the game."

The Hornets would eventually cut the deficit down to just two runs at 9-7. Senior Landon Burt, who had come into the game as a replacement for Rauch in the seventh, made the most of his only at-bat of the game by belting a two-run homer to right field that put the nail in the coffin of any Hornet comeback.

Unfortunately for SDSU, the win comes at a price, as Corona had trouble making it around the bases in the third inning and came out of the game. According to Gwynn, Corona has been banged up with a sore hamstring for a while but didn't tell anyone until before Monday's game.

The Aztecs will be back in action this weekend as they welcome UC-Santa Barbara for a three-game series beginning Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

(C) 2004 The Daily Aztec via U-WIRE.