May 25, 2011

• 2011 MW Baseball Championship Central
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SAN DIEGO - Where San Diego State was concerned, it was probably just as well Trey Nielsen didn't come to the plate a fifth time.

Nielsen, a freshman third baseman, was responsible for all of Utah's scoring Wednesday as the No. 2 seed Utes beat No. 4 seed San Diego State, 7-3, in the 2011 Mountain West Baseball Championship at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Utah (29-19) will play the winner of Wednesday night's game between No. 1 seed TCU and No. 6 seed New Mexico at 7 p.m. PT on Thursday.

Nielsen, who delivered a bases-loaded double in the first, hit his second grand slam of the season in the seventh after the Aztecs had drawn to within 3-2. His seven RBI tied the freshman single-game MW tournament set by San Diego State's Brock Ungricht in 2004 and was one shy of the all-time record of eight by SDSU's Sean McNaughton in the 2010 tournament.

"I thought I hit it pretty good, but I kept my head down and just ran as hard as I could," said Nielsen, who hit an inside-the-park grand slam during a series at New Mexico in April. "I don't think I really looked up until I was about halfway to second base."

Nielsen's offensive output was more than enough for Utah starter Rick Anton, who scattered six hits over eight innings while striking out seven.

San Diego State, which got two hits apiece from Cody Smith and Tim Zier, fell to 22-35 after holding off UNLV in Tuesday's opening round.

"The frustrating thing was that in both (at-bats by Nielsen) we were one pitch away from getting out of the inning," said Aztecs coach Tony Gwynn. "But Nielsen stepped up there and delivered twice. We've got a young team, but these are lessons young guys to have to learn."

POSTGAME NOTES:

• Utah (29-19) ... improves to 17-21 in Mountain West tournament games ... freshman third baseman Trey Nielsen and junior first baseman C.J. Cron extended their hitting streaks to five and four games, respectively ... sophomore righthander Tyler Wagner picked up his 12th save of 2011, extending his school single-season record and pushing his career tally to 14, also a school record.

• San Diego State (22-35) ... falls to 25-20 in Mountain West tournament games ... junior designated hitter Ben Vasko and freshman second baseman Tim Zier extended their hitting streaks to 14 and 13 games, respectively ... freshman outfielder Cody Smith pushed his hitting streak to five games.

OTHER NOTES:

• With 12 saves in 2011, Utah's Tyler Wagner is ranked fifth on the league's single-season chart ... the MW single-season saves record is 20, held by former San Diego State pitcher Addison Reed (2009).

For more information on the 2011 Mountain West Baseball Championship, follow the MW on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TheMWC and www.Twitter.com/TheMWCOlySports. For the latest news from around the league, become a Facebook fan at www.Facebook.com/MountainWestConference, check out its official YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/MountainWestConf, and read the league's official blog at www.TheMWC.com/blog.