March 31, 2012
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State scored five runs in the second inning and cruised to a 6-2 victory over Air Force in game two of their three-game Mountain West series this weekend at Tony Gwynn Stadium. With the win, SDSU (13-15 overall) moved into a tie with the Falcons (6-19) for third place in the conference standings with a 2-3 league mark.
The Aztecs had only seven hits on the night, but four of those came during their five-run outburst in the bottom of the second. The inning began with Seby Zavala reaching base when Air Force starting pitcher Ben Bertelson threw his grounder past the first baseman, allowing Zavala to advance to second on the error. After a strikeout, catcher Jake Romanski doubled to center field to give his team the 1-0 lead.
A walk to John Spirk was followed by Evan Potter's perfectly executed hit and run single through the left side to score Romanski. One out later, an RBI single by Tim Zier made it a 3-0 game with the final two runs coming home on Cody Smiths single to center.
San Diego State starter Travis Pitcher eased his way through the first three frames despite allowing at least one base runner in each inning. Air Force finally got to him in the top of the fourth, scoring twice on a single, walk and double to close the gap to 5-2.
SDSU responded with a run in the bottom of the same inning when Greg Allen's triple to the wall in center field drove home Potter, who had walked with one out. That would be the extent of the scoring for the duration of the contest.
Pitcher would go 5.2 innings to record the win and improve to 3-2 with TJ Kendzora tossing the final 3.1 frames to notch his first save of the season. The Falcons' Bertelson (0-5) turned in a complete-game effort, but took the loss despite striking out 13 Aztecs. It was the most strikeouts for an Air Force hurler since the 1983 season and most ever in conference play.
Zier was the lone Aztec with more than one hit in the contest as he finished with a pair of singles, an RBI and run scored. Smith had two runs batted in while Potter, who scored twice, reached base in each of his plate appearances with a hit and two walks.
Air Force and San Diego State will wrap up their weekend Mountain West series with a contest on Sunday (April 1) slated for a 1:00 p.m. start.