May 10, 2013
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Air Force got a complete-game pitching performance from Cameron White and used some clutch hitting to defeat San Diego State, 4-2, Friday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The loss dropped the Aztecs into third place in the Mountain West as they saw their record fall to 24-25 overall and 13-12 in league play.
Air Force (14-33, 6-19 Mountain West) wasted little time getting on the board as it plated a pair of runs in the opening inning against SDSU starter Michael Cederoth. A single by Garrett Custons and walk to Spencer Draws to open the contest were followed by a one-out RBI single by Zach Reks. An ensuing grounder to short by David Baska brought home the second run of the frame as the visitors took the early 2-0 lead.
Two innings later another walk by Cederoth ended up scoring as Matt Thorne's two-out double down the left field line drove home Seth Kline, who had drawn the base on balls to open the frame.
White, meanwhile, held the Aztecs hitless over the first four innings with their first single coming off the bat of Tyler France with two out in the fifth.
San Diego State made a bid to get back into the contest in the bottom of the sixth when singles by Matt Muñoz. Greg Allen and Tim Zier cut the deficit to 3-1 and put men on first and third with one out. But White got a strikeout and fly ball to right to escape further damage.
Cederoth's night ended after six innings during which he allowed the three runs on three hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. Two of the free passes he surrendered ended up scoring as he saw his record drop to 3-6 on the year.
Freshman right-hander Zack Oakley came on to start the top of the seventh for the Aztecs and retired the first two batters he faced before a walk to Draws was followed by an RBI double down the right field line by Kline to restore the Falcons' three-run advantage at 4-1.
The Aztecs pulled a run back in the ninth on an RBI double by Brad Haynal, but it was too little too late as White closed out the game to improve his record to 3-9.
SDSU finished the contest with a total of five hits while Air Force had four with no player on either squad registering more than one.
The Aztecs and Falcons will continue the three-game weekend series on Saturday (May 11) with a contest slated to start at 1:00 p.m. (PT). That game will be televised live nationally on then CBS Sports Network.