May 8, 2015
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State used a combination of timely hitting along with an excellent pitching performance by junior Bubba Derby as it defeated Air Force, 8-2, Friday afternoon at Falcon Field in Colorado Springs. The victory improved the Aztecs to 33-18 overall and 18-10 in the Mountain West as they inched closer to clinching second place in the final league standings and a bye in the first round of the conference tournament in two weeks.
Derby tossed eight innings of shutout ball on Friday, scattering six hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts. It marked his fifth contest finishing in double figures in strikeouts as he upped his league-leading season total to 111 in 83.1 innings. The effort earned him the victory to up his record to 6-3.
SDSU took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Spencer Thornton walked and stole second with two outs before Alan Trejo struck out, but reached first base on the passed ball. Ensuing RBI singles by Justin Wylie and Danny Sheehan plated Thornton and Trejo to give the Aztecs the 2-0 lead.
After single runs on an RBI bunt single by Wylie in the fourth and a pair of Falcon errors in the fifth made it 4-0, San Diego State added three more in the seventh on four hits, a walk and a hit batter. Those runs scored courtesy of a two-run double by Seby Zavala and an RBI single by Andrew Brown.
SDSU's final run came on Steven Pallares' leadoff home run in the top of the eighth, his sixth of the year.
The Falcons (21-25, 10-18 MW) scored a pair of consolation runs on three hits in their final at bat with those coming against reliever Brian Heldman, who came on to start the bottom of the ninth and closed out the contest.
Four Aztecs ended the afternoon with two hits apiece including Pallares (HR, RBI, run scored), Zavala (double, 2 RBI), Brown (RBI) and Wylie (2 RBI).
Due to expected inclement weather, San Diego state Air Force will now play a doubleheader on Saturday (May 9) with the first game scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. (MT).