March 17, 2002
San Diego - San Diego State struck for 10 runs over the first three innings and went on to defeat Air Force, 14-5, Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. All nine Aztec starters had at least one hit as SDSU improved to 18-8 overall and 2-1 in Mountain West Conference play. With the loss, Air Force dropped to 13-10 (1-2 MWC).
Aztec starter Mike Moat (3-1) went 6.1 innings, striking out six and allowing five earned runs to pick up the win. Junior Eric Human finished up the final 2.2 innings, giving up just a pair of hits. Air Force used six pitchers on the day with starter Erik Fisher (2-3), who recorded a save in Saturday night's contest, taking the loss.
San Diego State opened the scoring with three in the first on a RBI double by Carlo Cota, a run-scoring triple by Josh Allen, and an RBI single by Jake McLintock. However, the Falcons came back with a pair of runs in the top of the second on a two-out two-RBI single off the bat of Daniel Petro.
The Aztecs answered with two in their half of the second, then batted around in the third to add five to their total and take a 10-2 lead. One Aztec reached a milestone during that run as Carlo Cota's sacrifice fly in the third inning was the 14th of his career, giving him sole posession of the SDSU record in that category.
Shortstop Taber Lee continued to pace the Aztec offense. Batting in the leadoff position for only the second time this season and first time since Feb. 8, collected three hits along with three RBI and three runs scored. Lee also made a pair of spectacular plays in the field including an over-the-shoulder barehanded grab of a pop fly into shallow left field. He also made a barehanded grab of a sharply hit ground ball that took a bad hop, throwing the runner out at first.
Designated hitter Rielly Embrey, getting his first start in six games, responded by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a run batted in. His RBI came on an inside-the-park home run, his first career homer as an Aztec, in the eighth inning. Embrey hit a sinking liner that Air Force center fielder Tony Shockley dove for. The ball got by him and rolled to the 410 mark, allowing Embrey to score.
Air Force's Mike Rose collected three of Air Force's eight hits on the day while catcher Daniel Petro contributed a pair of hits and two RBI.
Up next for San Diego State is a game against USC on Monday, March 18, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. That contest may be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton calling the action.
San Diego State 14, Air Force 5AFA 020 000 300 - 5 8 4SDS 325 002 02x - 14 17 0Moat, Human (7) and Allen, Wilson (6)Fisher, Pruitt (3), Zicarelli (3), Werner (6), Stubbendorff (7), Pratt (8) and Petro, Paramore (8)W - Moat (3-1)L - Fisher (2-3)Sv - NoneHR - SDS: Embrey (8th-none on)Att. - 747Time - 2:53