May 12, 2001
SAN DIEGO - Seniors Ben Julianel and Jon Minter combined to record San Diego State's second shutout of the season, blanking Air Force, 7-0 on Saturday at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Aztecs improved to 31-23 overall and 19-10 in Mountain West Conference action, while the Falcons fell to 22-31 overall and 7-21 in conference.
Julianel upped his record to 4-5 with the victory, giving up only two hits in five innings of work and striking out six. Minter came on in the sixth to limit Air Force to three hits and strike out two in four innings en route to picking up his first save of the season. Falcon starter Michael Tufte fell to 8-8 with the loss, yielding seven hits and six runs (four earned) in six full innings of work.
SDSU was led offensively by designated hitter Darrell Bowles, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs batted in and three runs scored. Left fielder Ben Leuthard added a 2-for-3 effort with an RBI and three runs scored.
Aztec shortstop Taber Lee had his 15-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-for-4 in the contest.
SDSU raced out of the gates early in this one, scoring three runs in the first inning on a trio of RBI doubles from Leuthard, Bowles and second baseman Carlo Cota, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
The Aztecs added another in the third when Cota singled in Leuthard from second base, and two more in the fifth on run-scoring sacrifice flies from Cota and third baseman Pilar Amaya.
Bowles capped the scoring in the seventh when he blasted his second home run of the season over the right-center field fence off Falcon reliever David Diehl.
SDSU and Air Force will conclude their three-game series at Tony Gwynn Stadium at 2 p.m. tomorrow. Aztec seniors Darrell Bowles, Mike Garber, Ben Julianel, Andy Litteral, Jon Minter, Ben Rosenthal and John Skinner will be honored prior to the contest, as it will be their final regular-season appearance in front of the home fans at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The game can be heard live on the internet at the official website of SDSU athletics, www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton calling the action.