Upon further review, San Diego State baseball coach Tony Gwynn decided to send No. 1 starter Stephen Strasburg to the mound for last night's nonconference game at Cal State Fullerton.

That likely means the Aztecs will save Strasburg for their second game (Wednesday) of next week's Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Strasburg was limited to six innings and 92 pitches in a 4-3 loss to No. 8-ranked Fullerton. It was the first time in two months Strasburg (8-2) didn't deliver a victory for SDSU (30-24).

The Titans (33-17) actually made the sophomore right-hander look human, collecting eight hits and four runs off him. Most notably, Strasburg only struck out three. It was the first time in seven outings that Strasburg didn't register double-digit strikeouts.

Jared Clark hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Dustin Garneau hit a two-run double in the sixth for the Titans' runs. SDSU scored once in the second and twice in the seventh to make it 4-3.

– KIRK KENNEY

Aztecs in 13th

San Diego State was tied for 13th place and USD was alone in 24th after the first round of the NCAA Western Regional men's golf tournament in Bremerton, Wash. At 14-over, the Aztecs trailed leader Oregon by 13 shots, while the Toreros were 19 strokes behind.

In the 27-team field, the top 10 teams after four rounds advance to the NCAA National Championship.

Oregon's Joey Benedetti was the individual leader at 3-under 69 at Gold Mountain Golf Club. Aaron Goldberg (La Costa Canyon) was SDSU's top scorer with a 73, while Dale Smith and Jake Yount led USD with 75s.

NCAA champion Jamie Lovemark (USC and Torrey Pines) shot even-par 72 to get into a tie for eighth. USC is tied for second with UCLA and North Carolina, two behind Oregon.

PLNU in seventh

The Point Loma Nazarene men's golf team fell from fifth to seventh after three rounds in the NAIA National Championship in Plymouth, Ind. Going into today's final round, the Sea Lions were 29 strokes behind leader British Columbia.

PLNU's Sam Cyr shot 71 and was alone in second place, two shots behind Nick Zappin of Johnson & Wales (Fla.).

– TOD LEONARD