May 5, 2006
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State broke open a one-run ball game by scoring 20 runs over the fourth and fifth innings en route to a 36-11 victory over Air Force (10-28; 1-13 MWC) at Falcon Field Friday afternoon. In the process, the Aztecs (18-31; 11-6 MWC) set several school and Mountain West Conference records on a cool, cloudy day in Colorado Springs.
Chief among the record-setters was the performance of shortstop Lance Zawadzki, who set a new SDSU mark with seven hits in the contest. After being hit by pitch in the opening inning, Zawadzki recorded four singles, two doubles and a home run during his record-setting performance. His final line for the day read seven at bats, six runs, seven hits and five RBI.
Both Zawadzki and center fielder Quintin Berry scored six times, the most for an Aztec individual in the Division I era. The last time an SDSU player crossed the plate six times came back in 1959 when Rick Sutherland did it against Westmont College.
In addition to his six runs scored, Berry went 4-for-6 with a triple and a pair of runs batted in while teammate Curt Mendoza also had four hits and two RBI.
The game was a close one over the first three innings as the Aztecs held a slim 5-4 lead. However, the visitors took control in the fourth when they scored nine times. During the inning, SDSU sent 13 men to the plate and got two-run singles from Paul Smyth and Berry plus a two-RBI double from Zawadzki. The nine runs were the most in an inning for the Aztecs this season.
In the fifth, San Diego State went two runs better, putting an 11-spot on the board as 15 batters came to the plate. In the inning, freshman second baseman Nick Romero hit a pair of home runs, a two-run and three-run shot, to bring his total for the year to seven.
SDSU also got home runs from Joey Huskins along with Brent Spirnak and Chris Anderson in the game. It was the first career round-tripper for the latter two as the team's six homers on the afternoon tied the school mark set at Brigham Young during the 1999 campaign.
The 36 runs and 34 RBI by the Aztecs both established new Mountain West Conference and school records. Zawadzki's seven hits also tied the league mark for most hits in a game (both all game and league games).
SDSU starting pitcher Justin Masterson went six innings to pick up the win and improve to 5-5 on the season. With five strikeouts, he upped his season total to 100 K's. Redshirt freshman Charles Nolte went the final three innings, allowing one run while striking out four to record his first save.
Air Force starter Mitch Brown, who lasted just three innings and gave up SDSU's first nine runs, took the loss and fell to 3-9. The Falcons' Price Paramore, who saw action in both right field and on the mound, drove in seven of the home side's 11 runs with two hits including a grand slam. First baseman Karl Bolt had four hits for Air Force as well.
San Diego and Air Force will continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday (May 6) at Falcon Field with first pitch scheduled for noon (MDT).
San Diego State 36, Air Force 11SDS 302 9(11)5 501 - 36 26 1AFA 103 024 100 - 11 14 5Masterson, Nolte (7), and Swaydan, Anderson (6)Brown, Madison (4), Paramore (5), Daly (7) and Carpenter, Kelter (5)W - Masterson (6-5)L - Brown (3-9)Sv - Nolte (1)HR - SDS: Romero-6 (5th-two on) SDS: Romero-7 (5th-one on) SDS: Zawadzki-3 (6th-one on) SDS: Huskins-2 (6th-two on) AFA: Paramore-4 (6th-three on) SDS: Spirnak-1 (7th-two on) SDS: Anderson-1 (9th-none on)Att. - 71Time - 3:46