April 29, 2012
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Trailing by seven runs late in the contest, San Diego State rallied to pull to within one, but was unable to complete the comeback as it fell to Air Force, 10-8, in the rubber game of their three-game weekend series Sunday afternoon in Colorado Springs.
The loss dropped the Aztecs to 20-25 overall and 9-9 in Mountain West while the Falcons improved to 12-30 (5-13 MW).
Air Force got out of the gate quickly, scoring four times in the opening inning off Aztec starter Ryan Doran. Those runs came on a pair of walks, two singles and a double and gave the Falcons a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the afternoon. It also meant that the Aztec junior right-hander would take the loss to fall to 3-4 on the year.
SDSU answered back with single runs in the second and third to cut the deficit to 4-2. Jomel Torres' hit his first home run of the season in the second and an RBI double by Ryan Muno in the third scored Tim Zier, who had singled with one out.
Air Force, however, continued its early-game offensive output with a run in the bottom of the third and four more in the fourth to take a 9-2 lead. The key blow in the fourth was a three-run homer by Seth Kline that ended Doran's day on the mound as he finished with 3.2 innings pitched allowing nine runs on nine hits with two walks and a strikeout.
Falcon starting pitcher Evan Abrecht kept the Aztec bats in check after SDSU had scored in the third. He surrendered just one hit from the fourth through seventh innings as he struck out six over the first seven frames.
The San Diego State offense finally came alive against the Air Force starter as it scored six times in the top of the eighth to make it a one-run affair at 9-8. The Aztecs opened the inning with six straight hits including RBI singles by Spencer Thornton and Dillon Bryant plus a two-run double by Torres. Sacrifice flies by Matt Muñoz and Greg Allen against Air Force reliever Mike Kazakoff got SDSU to within a run.
The Falcons were able to pick up an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth against freshman Greg Allen, who came in from right field to make his SDSU pitching debut. A leadoff walk was followed two outs later by an RBI double to give the home side the 10-8 lead that would prove to be the final score.
Kazakoff then retired the side in order in the top of the ninth to record his second save of the weekend. Abrecht was credited with the win to improve to 4-2.
Three Aztecs ended the afternoon with two hits apiece including Torres (double, one run, 3 RBI, two runs scored), Wilson (two doubles, run scored) and Muno (single, double, RBI, run scored).
San Diego State now returns home for a contest against UC Irvine on Tuesday, May 1, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium,