COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The San Diego State baseball team opened Mountain West play with a 9-5 loss at Air Force on Friday afternoon. The Aztecs fall to 5-4 on the season, while the Falcons up their 2019 record to 6-3.
Angelo Armenta recorded a strong individual performance despite the loss, leading the Aztecs with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with two RBIs. Ryan Orr also recorded a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-5.
After Air Force opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second the Aztecs immediately responded with a trio of runs in the ensuing frame, using a Matt Rudick triple to score Jacob Maekawa to tie the game at 1-1. Armenta later recorded his first RBI of the day on a single to center, scoring Rudick, while the Aztecs capped the three-run frame with a Julian Escobedo groundout allowing Armenta to score.
Air Force reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fourth, however, using a five-run, four-hit inning with two walks and a hit by pitch to claim a 6-3 lead.
SDSU was able to cut that deficit to just one in the top of the seventh, as Rudick and Orr both crossed the plate after starting the inning off with a walk and double, respectively.
The Falcons immediately regained those two runs in the bottom half of the seventh, using a Colby Brown sacrifice fly and a Gabe Martinez RBI single to make it an 8-5 advantage. Air Force capped their scoring for the afternoon with a single run in the bottom of the eighth to bring the score to its final 9-5.
Logan Boyer (1-1) was dealt his first loss of the season, allowing five runs on four hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts over three innings. Air Force's Jake Gilbert (2-0) earned the win with 5.1 innings of relief, allowing three hits and two unearned runs.
Justin Goossen-Brown contributed 4.2 innings of relief for SDSU, allowing five hits and four runs while striking out three.
NOTES
· SDSU has lost consecutive games for the first time this season and just the eighth time since the start of the 2017 season. SDSU has not lost three consecutive games since April 29 – May 1, 2016 when the team suffered a three-game sweep against Nevada.
· SDSU falls to 35-7 in games following a loss since the start of the 2017 season.
· SDSU falls to 17-9 in their last 26 meetings with Air Force. SDSU and Air Force are even at 8-8 in the last 16 games in Colorado Springs.
· SDSU falls to 41-6 in their last 47 games when scoring five or more runs.
· SDSU falls to 7-2 in their last nine weekend series-opening games.
· Angelo Armenta led the Aztec lineup with three hits, marking a new season-high. Armenta also recorded two RBIs, giving the graduate transfer his first multi-RBI game of the season. Through the team's first nine games, Armenta leads the team with a .400 batting average and .550 on-base percentage.
· Ryan Orr recorded the first multi-hit game of his career after going 2-for-5 at the plate.
UP NEXT
SDSU looks to even the series against Air Force tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. MT. RHP Harrison Pyatt is scheduled to take the ball for the Aztecs.
Baseball Tripped Up at Air Force, 9-5
