Tony Gwynn Says SDSU Has to Learn From Mistakes

Tanner Reibenspies makes a play on a bunt attempt.IRVINE, Calif. — Most coaches say it’s doing the little things. But excelling at execution can be a big boost. Tuesday night at Anteater Ballpark, the difference in UC Irvine’s 10-5 victory over San Diego State was the Aztecs complete inability to execute.

Poor execution cost the Aztecs (18-21) several chances to break through and provided UC Irvine (19-14) with extra opportunities. Despite being down only 5-4 in the eighth inning, the Aztecs continually struggled to get timely hits, put down sacrifice bunts and limit Irvine from taking extra bases.

Following the game, the San Diego State coaching staff laid into the players, letting them know their effort Tuesday night was unacceptable.

After the Aztecs’ post-game huddle, I talked with SDSU head coach Tony Gwynn, who was disappointed in his young team’s performance.

Gwynn discussed what was said to the players after the game and talked about losing a game he thought his team could have won if not for mental breakdowns:

About Shotgun Spratling

Shotgun Spratling covers the Southern California area where he attended 75 games during the 2012 season. He attended grad school at USC where he covered USC sports for Neon Tommy, South LA Intersections, Annenberg TV News, KSCR and the Trojan Vision debate show Platforum Sports. He has worked with the Princeton Devil Rays minor league team, written for daily and weekly newspapers and done freelance work for publications such as ESPN, NBC Los Angeles and the SC Playbook magazine. After being a 3-sport letterman in high school, he was a 4-year letterman at Division III Maryville College where he concluded his collegiate career by inducing a ground out to end the 2007 Great South Athletic Conference Tournament and gave the Scots the GSAC championship. He also spent the 2010 summer in Cape Town, South Africa covering sports for the Cape Community Papers during the first FIFA World Cup held on African soil.