By Bob Baum
The Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. - Opening night was a frustrating one for coach Tony Gwynn. San Diego State blew leads of 4-0 and 5-1 Friday night as Arizona State beat Gwynn's Aztecs 7-5.

In Gwynn's debut as coach of his alma mater, San Diego State seemed headed to its first victory over a nationally ranked team in three years, but the Sun Devils scored seven runs in the final three innings off four San Diego State relievers.

"We played really well. We did a lot of things good. We made some plays," Gwynn said. "But when it came crunch time, we didn't make a play. We couldn't throw a strike. When you can't make a play, there's no excuses."

Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run in the seventh, then singled in the tying run in the eighth off closer Will Miller, a transfer from Arizona State's arch-rival Arizona.

The next batter, Travis Buck, singled in the go-ahead run, then second baseman Peter Stonard's error allowed another run.

Mike Moat's five shutout innings had helped the Aztecs build a 4-0 lead. Jon Stephens, who had three RBIs, doubled in a run in the seventh to make it 5-1.

Arizona State, which hasn't been shut out in an NCAA-record 440 games, cut it to 5-3 on Pedroia's two-run homer in the seventh.

After eight National League batting titles and 3,141 hits in 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Gwynn returned to the school whose home stadium bears his name in an attempt to lead it into baseball prominence.

"I'm not going to lie. I'm kind of nervous," he said before the game. "I've kind of got those pregame jitters, those opening-day jitters. But I think that's normal."

Gwynn politely turned down a handful of autograph seekers as the Aztecs climbed off the bus Friday. Shortly before he walked out of the dugout to present the lineups to the home plate umpire, Arizona Diamondbacks Luis Gonzalez, Tony Womack and Craig Counsell leaned over the fence and shook Gwynn's hand.

San Diego State took a 1-0 lead in the third inning in a Gwynn-like manner. Josh Allen led off with a double, then advanced to third on James Guerrero's single. With one out, Peter Stonard knocked an 0-2 pitch through the infield in left and bring home Allen.

The Aztecs made it 4-0 in the fifth. Gwynn's son, Anthony, a preseason All-American, singled in a run and Stephens doubled over the head of center fielder Rodney Allen to bring home two more, both with two outs.

Gwynn was happy to open the season on the road. If the Aztecs had played their opener in San Diego, hordes of reporters on hand for Sunday's Super Bowl probably would have been there.

"We were talking about that as a coaching staff," Gwynn said. "We really don't know how fortunate we are to be able to get out of there, because it's a mess."

San Diego State's opening three-game series comes against an Arizona State team that began its season by sweeping six games has swept six games at Hawaii-Hilo and is ranked 12th in the preseason by Collegiate Baseball, eighth by Baseball America.

"I can't think of a better place to be, really," Gwynn said, "because you're playing a quality club that's coming off winning six games in a row. All fall, all spring long I'm trying to convince these guys that when we step out on the field, we've got just as much chance of winning as anybody else. So now we find out."