March 23, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Garett Green's two-out two-run single in the top of the eighth broke a 10-10 deadlock and sent San Diego State on its way to a 21-10 win over Air Force Friday afternoon at Falcon Field. With the victory, the Aztecs improve to 17-11 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference as they won for the fifth straight time.
The final score was hardly indicative of the tight nature of the contest, one that saw SDSU take the lead in the second inning only to see the Falcons (5-20, 0-5) chip away and come back to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.
After the home side scored three in the first, San Diego State put seven on the broad in the top of the next frame. Those runs came courtesy of just four hits along with five walks. Brian Lucas' bases-loaded single brought home the first run and was followed by run-scoring walks to Chris Anderson and Mike Willeford. Brandon Glover's two-RBI double gave SDSU its first lead at 5-3 before Willeford scored on a balk. Glover, who had moved to third on the balk, came home on Brandon Decker's safety squeeze bunt to make it a 7-3 contest.
The Falcons slowly fought their way back into the contest, scoring seven off Aztec starter Bruce Billings plus three more against four SDSU relievers to tie the game at 10-10 in the bottom of the seventh. A pair of runs on four consecutive singles and a bases-loaded walk knotted the score and the Falcons threatened to break open the game at that point.
With the bases still loaded and no outs in the seventh, San Diego State called on freshman reliever Nate Solow. The lefty from Albuquerque proceeded to get a fly to shallow center, a fielder's choice at the plate and a called third strike to snuff out the Falcon threat and keep the score tied.
In the top of the eighth, Glover and Troy Hanzawa reached on singles and were balked to second and third respectively by Air Force reliever Mike Ruvolo. Green then sent his RBI single up the middle to give the Aztecs a 12-10 lead. Green, who had advanced to second when his base hit was bobbled by the Falcon center fielder, then scored on Cameron Johnson's base hit to right.
After Solow retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth, his teammates sent 13 men to the plate in the top of the ninth, scoring eight times for the final 21-10 score line. In that frame, SDSU got back-to-back homers from Brandon Decker (a three-run shot) and Troy Hanzawa plus a two-run triple by Lucas.
Solow finished out the bottom of the ninth to pick up the win and improve to 2-1 on the season. Air Force's Ruvolo fell to 0-2 as he took the loss for the second straight day.
San Diego State's run and hit total were highs for the season as every player in the lineup accounted for at least one hit and one RBI on the afternoon. Brandon Glover tallied five hits including a double with three RBI and three runs scored.
Decker, who entered the lineup yesterday replacing injured right fielder Josh Chasse and started on Friday, had a pair of hits and four runs batted in to give him seven RBI in the last two games. First baseman Brian Lucas accounted for three runs and three RBI while Nick Romero and Chris Anderson had three hits apiece.
The Aztecs and Falcons will conclude their three-game series on Saturday (Mar. 24) with game time set for noon (MDT) at Falcon Field.