San Diego State University baseball split an exhibition doubleheader with Golden West College, a JUCO team in Orange County, by winning the first game with a score of 8-2, then tying the second 11-11, in a game that they once led by 11-1. 

Following a summer filled with a roster revamp and coaching changes, the Aztecs were looking to gain experience as a team and show that they are on a new page in the exhibition games. 

The first game was decided in the first two innings as they tagged the Golden West pitching for eight runs. Junior center fielder Jake Jackson led the way with three extra-base hits and RBIS and two runs scored. 

The Aztec pitching largely dominated the game as right-hand pitchers Rohan Lettow (a junior ASU transfer), Drew Talavs (a junior transfer from Oregon State), David Ladjevic (a junior transfer from Golden West) and Bryce McKnight (a junior transfer from Arizona) all pitched scoreless innings in relief. 

However, sophomore righty Trey Telfer, who transferred from the University of Indiana, faced trouble as he loaded the bases at the top of the eighth and gave up two runs. 

Senior righty Aidan Russell entered the game in the top of the ninth and closed out an 8-2 victory with a one-two-three inning. 

In the second game, sophomore righty Alec Belardes (transfer from ASU) started the game for the Aztecs, but gave up an early run to give Golden West the lead. 

However, freshman utility player Max Farrell scored on a passed ball to tie the game for SDSU. Reeve Boyd, a junior utility transfer from Washington, scored on a dropped third strike that went away from the catcher to give the Aztecs the lead. 

Righty Evan Miranda replaced Beladres on the mound in the top of the third and pitched a scoreless inning in relief. 

In the bottom of the third, sophomore catcher Anthony Marnell IV, a transfer from College of Southern Nevada, roped a two-run single down the left field line to extend the lead to 4-1.  

Righty Carson Johnson, a transfer from Arizona, entered the game in place of Miranda at the top of the fourth and pitched a flawless three-up, three-down inning. 

The bottom of the fourth was a big inning for the Aztec offense as they took advantage of the lack of command from the Golden West pitching and poor fielding skills from the catching, scoring five runs, with three of them on wild pitches and the other two on hits to take an 8-1 lead. 

After Johnson put two runners on at the top of the fifth, he stormed back to get the final two outs of the inning, capping it off with a strikeout. 

Back-to-back doubles from Marnell and freshman Marc Emmerman gave SDSU a 10-1 lead. 

Sophomore lefty Alito McBean, the first Aztec lefty of the doubleheader, replaced Johnson on the mound to start the sixth and, like Miranda and Johnson, pitched a scoreless inning. 

SDSU scored to take an 11-1 lead on two straight hits in the bottom of the sixth. However, the game turned ugly after that as pitching and defense couldn’t get the job done, and the offense went quiet. 

Freshman right-hander Jake Frohn gave up four runs in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 11-5. Junior lefty Garvey Rumary gave up six runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 11-11, with two of them coming with two outs. 

The Aztecs failed to get a runner home and the game ended in an 11-11 tie as the Aztecs blew an 11-1 lead.