Fenske to 210 Saves; Church Ready

Aztecs Nip Golden Bears

SAN DIEGO - In a defensive battle, the sixth-ranked San Diego State water polo team upended No. 5 California, 7-5, for the second straight year Thursday, extending the SDSU winning streak to nine games. The Aztecs improved to 22-2 overall and 6-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Golden Bears fell to 12-7 overall and 5-4 in league play.

The Aztecs held Cal to a .148 shooting percentage (5-of-36) with senior goalkeeper HEATHER FENSKE (pictured) anchoring the solid defensive effort with 14 stops. The Lompoc native notched her ninth overall and second consecutive double-digit save game.

But on Saturday the Aztecs saw their nine-game winning streak snapped with a 13-8 loss at the hands of No. 3 University of Southern California.

The Aztecs allowed double-digit goals for just the second time this season and fell to 22-3 overall and 6-2 in the MPSF, while USC improves to 14-5 overall and 7-1 in league play. Fenske recorded six saves to ratchet her total to 210 for the season.

The Aztecs next host No. 4 Hawaii on April 8.

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Church Does the Little Things

In the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday night RYAN CHURCH demonstrated how he will impress New York baseball fans this season.

In Memphis for the final spring training game of the spring the Mets were tied with the White Sox 2-2.

First Church rapped his second base hit of the game. Then teammate Angel Pagan, who looks to be filling in for injured Moises Alou in left field, singled.

Church did not advance station-to-station, he used his speed to go first-to-third.

Then backup catcher Raul Casanova struck a simple RBI ground ball to score Churchie for a 3-2 victory.

Little things, that’s what Church will do. And it helps that now he’s surrounded by other players who can do the same. The Mets posted the best spring record in baseball.

Church appears to have found the comfort level with his new Howard Johnson-coached swing. With 2-for-3 Saturday he raised his spring average from .161 to .236 in a week.

The Mets open at the Marlins Monday at 1 p.m. PDT.