April 21, 2011
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Chris Wilson tied a school record with three home runs and Corey Black turned in eight solid innings on the mound as San Diego State defeated Air Force, 15-1, Thursday afternoon at Falcon Field in Colorado Springs. The win ended a six-game skid for the Aztecs who improved to 12-26 overall and 6-7 in the Mountain West Conference.
Wilson hit solo homers in both the second and fifth innings before adding a two-run shot in the eighth. His bid for a fourth round tripper fell just short as he sent a ball to the warning track in his final at bat in the ninth. Wilson finished the day with four hits and four runs batted in. His three homers tied the SDSU record held jointly by Brad Gennaro (1992) and Javier Ramos (1999).
Black, meanwhile, allowed the Falcons little in the way of offense. Air Force (14-24, 0-8 MWC) did grab the early lead with a run in the first on a walk to Alex Bast, sac bunt by Blair Roberts and RBI double by Nathan Carter. It marked the seventh straight game that the opponent has scored in the opening frame.
After the shaky start, Black settled down and allowed only four hits over the next seven innings while walking three and striking out six. Five of the six batters he whiffed were caught looking as he would pick up the win to move his record to 2-3 on the season.
One of the big moments in the game came in the bottom of the fifth with SDSU holding a 4-1 lead. Air Force loaded the bases with one out, but Black induced Bast to hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. The Aztecs then scored five in the top of the sixth to take control of the contest.
In addition to Wilson, four other Aztecs enjoyed multiple-hit games led by Brandon Meredith who had a single, double and two-run home run that came in a four-run eighth inning. Shortstop Cody Slader also recorded three hits including a double and reached safely all five times at the plate as he also drew a pair of walks.
Second baseman Evan Potter added a pair of hits with two RBI and two runs scored while Jomel Torres had two hits and scored once. A total of eight different Aztecs scored at least once as SDSU put runs on the board in seven of the nine innings.
San Diego State and Air Force will continue their three-game series with a contest on Friday (April 22) scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. (MT) start.