March 21, 2003
San Diego - Led by a solid offensive attack and the pitching of junior right-hander Mike Moat, San Diego State defeated Air Force, 10-3, in the opening contest of the teams' three-game series at Tony Gwynn Stadium. With this weekend's game being played in San Diego due to heavy snow in the Rockies, SDSU used its home field advantage to improve to 10-16 on the season and 4-1 in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force dropped its fourth straight overall and seventh consecutive league game to fall to 8-13 overall and 0-7 in MWC play.
SDSU got a strong pitching performance from Moat, who ended his recent struggles by going eight innings and striking out 10 to even his record at 2-2. Ryan Heil added to the Aztec strikeout total, fanning a pair of batters in retiring the side in the ninth inning.
San Diego State broke on top with three runs in the third on a bases-loaded two-RBI single by Anthony Gwynn and a sacrifice fly by James Guerrero.
After the Falcons came back with a run in the fourth on Daniel Petro's two-out double, the Aztecs restored their three-run cushion when Chad Corona scored from third on Landon Burt's fielder's choice.
The game was the first in over three weeks for Corona, who had been sidelined by a hip injury. The junior third baseman went 1-for-3 on the night and scored a pair of runs. He also made a diving stop of a ground ball in the fourth inning to rob the Falcons of a base hit. Also making his return to the lineup after missing four weeks with an injury was senior first baseman Jon Stephens, who appeared in the designated hitter role.
Air Force narrowed SDSU's lead to one at 4-3 with a pair of runs in the sixth on RBI's from Petro and Derck Kasel, but that's as close as the Falcons would get with their comeback effort.
The Aztecs added to their total in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI triple by Burt, who later scored on a wild pitch. A 420-foot home run by Jake McLintock gave SDSU a 7-3 lead in the seventh, and SDSU tacked on three more in the eighth with RBI's from Peter Stonard, Jon Stephens and Rielly Embrey.
San Diego State's Landon Burt finished the night with three hits including a triple, two runs scored and two RBI. Jake McLintock, Rielly Embrey and Josh Allen also collected two hits apiece for the Aztecs.
The Falcon offense was led byJosh Phifer, Daniel Petro and Derck Kasel with a pair of hits apiece with Petro and Kasel accounting for the team's RBIs. Starting pitcher Jesper Stubbendorff took the loss as his record fell to 2-3 on the year.
Air Force and San Diego continue their three-game series at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Saturday (March 22) with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Internet at www.goaztecs.com with Alan Horton calling the action.
San Diego State 10, Air Force 3AFA 000 102 000 - 3 9 1SDS 030 102 13x - 10 13 0Moat, Heil (9) and AllenStubbendorff, Zumbrun (6), Mears (8) and PetroW - Moat (2-2)L - Stubbendorff (2-3)Sv - NoneHR - SDSU: McLintock (7th-none on)At. - 360Time - 2:37