SAN DIEGO – San Diego State continues its road swing this weekend when it ventures to the Front Range of the Rockies to battle Air Force in a crucial three-game series, May 12-14, at Falcon Field on the USAF Academy campus outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Aztecs and Falcons will square off in the series opener on Friday, starting at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT, while Saturday's and Sunday's showdowns are slated to get underway at noon MT/11 a.m. PT.
Friday's game was originally scheduled for a 3 p.m. MT (2 p.m. PT) start, but expected evening rain prompted the switch.
In addition to live stats, all three games will air live on the Mountain West Network, with links to both platforms available on GoAztecs.com.
Entering the penultimate weekend of the regular season, SDSU (20-24, 14-9 MW) maintains its precarious perch atop the conference standings, while Air Force (23-26, 14-10 MW) is slotted a close second, followed by San José State (23-22, 15-11 MW) and Fresno State (24-24, 13-14 MW).
This weekend, the Spartans step out of conference for a road series at Texas, while the Bulldogs play host to UNLV for a three-game set.
The Aztecs went 2-2 in four encounters with San José State in the Bay Area last week, opening with a 5-3 victory in the completion of a suspended game from March 10 in San Diego. The following day, SDSU split a twin bill against the Spartans, posting a 5-0 whitewash in the opener before witnessing a 4-0 reversal of fortune in the nightcap. The Aztecs were upended in the finale by a 7-2 count, as San José State scored six unanswered runs to pull away for the win.
In the doubleheader opener, TJ Fondtain (6-2) tossed the fourth complete game of his career and third via shutout, allowing just two hits and one walk with a pair of strikeouts for his third consecutive victorious start.
Over his last eight starts on the hill, Fondtain has compiled a 5-1 record with a 1.15 ERA, yielding seven earned runs in 55 innings while posting a combined 58 strikeouts against only 12 walks. In that span, SDSU is 7-1 as a team, outscoring the opposition 39-17.
Entering the weekend, Fondtain leads the league in ERA (2.65), opponent batting average (.190) and innings pitched (74.2) while sharing the top spot in victories and ranking second in strikeouts (78). Among national leaders, the Aztec junior is slotted 32nd in ERA and tied for 56th in strikeouts.
Last month, Fondtain garnered National Pitcher of the Week accolades from the NCBWA and D1Baseball.com after tossing the eighth no-hitter in program history in SDSU's 4-0 triumph over Nevada on April 21.
Meanwhile, fellow left-hander Chris Canada is slotted third in the MW with 10.54 strikeouts per nine innings while ranking fourth with 64 strikeouts overall and seventh with a .256 opposing batting average.
Elsewhere, Kelena Sauer shares the top spot in the conference with a career-high 10 saves, which is tied for eighth in the country, while his 21 games finished also leads the league. Additionally, the SDSU junior ranks fourth in appearances (23), two behind teammate Eldridge Armstrong III (24), who shares the top perch.
After posting saves in consecutive victories over UNLV, April 28-29, Sauer was named MW Pitcher of the Week. Additionally, the Aztec junior earned a spot on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List.
Collectively, SDSU pitchers are positioned atop the Mountain West this week in ERA (4.70), opposing batting average (.245), strikeouts (406), fewest hits allowed (349) and few earned runs allowed (194).
On the national level, the Aztecs' per-nine-inning averages of 8.28 hits allowed and 9.6 strikeouts rank 35th and 45th, respectively.
The Scarlet and Black has posted 10 or more strikeouts on 20 occasions this season and has compiled a 55-35 record over its last 90 games when fanning 10 or more batters dating back to 2019.
As of May 11, SDSU leads the Mountain West with 1.25 stolen bases per game and 55 overall. Likewise, the Aztecs top the conference with fewest stolen bases against (22) and runners picked off (8).
Individually, Cole Carrigg ranks 13th in the conference with a team-best .320 batting average. The SDSU junior also shares the top spot with five triples, which is tied for 15th nationally, and ranks second in the league with 11 stolen bases.
Additionally, Shaun Montoya tops the league with 14 stolen bases, while Cade Martinez is slotted third with seven sacrifice hits, which is tied for 48th in the country. Following the UNLV series, Martinez was named MW Freshman of the Week.
Poncho Ruiz, who has notched a team-high 35 RBIs, also leads the Aztecs with multiple hits in 16 games and has driven in two or more runs in 10 outings. In addition, Irvin Weems has reached base safely in nine straight games.
Meanwhile, Air Force has recorded two straight series victories in MW play at home, winning two of three against New Mexico, April 21-23, before completing a sweep of San José State, April 28-30.
Last weekend, the Falcons dropped two of three non-league encounters at Arizona, suffering a 16-4 loss and a heartbreaking 11-10 defeat, sandwiched around a 5-0 triumph in game two.
Entering the weekend, infielder Sam Kulasingam leads the Mountain West in on-base percentage (.516), hits (81), walks (38), doubles (23) and runs scored (53), while ranking second in batting average (.409), fourth in slugging percentage (.641) and fifth in RBIs (44).
In addition, fellow infielder Jay Thomason (.316) finds himself among the conference leaders in total bases (1st, 128), home runs (2nd, 17), RBIs (2nd, 57), slugging percentage (3rd, .674), runs scored (3rd, 45), hits (7th, 60) and on-base percentage (9th, .407).
Elsewhere, infielder Trayden Tamiya is slotted second in the MW in hits (70) and eighth in batting average (.341), while outfielder Jake Greiving ranks second in doubles (21) and third in RBIs (57).
As of May 11, Kulasingam leads the nation with his 23 doubles, while his total of 81 hits is tied for seventh.
As a team, Air Force tops the Mountain West with 113 doubles overall, which ranks 12th in the country. Additionally, the Falcons occupy the second position in the conference in batting average (.294), hits (516), on-base percentage (.385) and RBIs (317) while ranking third in home runs (48).
On the mound, the Falcons are slotted fourth in the league this week with 332 strikeouts. However, Air Force ranks last in ERA (7.28) and opposing batting average (.324) while allowing the most hits (575) and home runs (62) of the MW's seven teams.
Individually, Doyle Gehring (4-3, 5.61 ERA, 53 SO) and Dylan Rogers (2-4, 7.67 ERA, 41 SO) lead the Falcons with 12 starts apiece, followed by fellow right-hander Jake Sansing (5-4, 4.16 ERA, 45 SO), who has eight starts to his credit.
Sansing is tied for fifth in the MW with five wins and ranks sixth in ERA (4.16), while reliever Sawyer Hawks is slotted third with seven saves.
After capturing two of three games from the Falcons in late March, SDSU holds a sizable 120-33 lead against Air Force in the all-time series that dates back to 1961.
The Falcons are one of four teams which the Aztecs have recorded 100 wins against, while the other three are New Mexico (128), Fresno State (109), Utah (104) and UNLV (101).
SDSU is 67-13 vs. Air Force in San Diego and 46-20 at the Academy. In addition, the Aztecs have won all seven meetings at neutral sites.
During Mark Martinez's nine-year tenure as head coach on The Mesa, SDSU sports a 26-12 record against the Falcons including a 16-6 mark at home, a 9-6 ledger on the road and a 1-0 record on a neutral field.
In their previous series vs. Air Force at Tony Gwynn Stadium, the Aztecs won handily by scores of 11-0 and 13-1 in the first two games, buoyed by two strong pitching performances from Fondtain and Canada. However, the Scarlet and Black was unable to complete the sweep, as the Falcons claimed a 12-6 decision in the finale.
Earlier in the opener of that series, Fondtain combined for his second career shutout, scattering four hits and three walks in six-plus innings to go with eight strikeouts, while Canada followed with a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings of game two, allowing just one run on three hits and a trio of walks.
In addition, Irvin Weems was named Mountain West Player of the Week after batting .500 (5-10) with five RBIs, five runs scored and one stolen base in the series. Along with sharing the team lead in RBIs and runs scored, the SDSU designated hitter drew five walks and hit .750 (3-4) with runners in scoring position while batting .667 (4-6) with men on base.
In 14 career games vs. the Falcons, Carrigg is hitting .392 (20-51) with a homer, two doubles, 11 RBIs and 23 runs scored while stealing six bases.
In their last visit to the Academy in 2021, the Aztecs swept all three games, combining for a whopping 50 runs on 58 hits and no errors while capitalizing on 20 walks. The Scarlet and Black captured the opener in convincing fashion, 17-3, in seven innings before outlasting the Falcons, 13-10, in game two. SDSU kept firing on all cylinders for the series finale, pulling away for a 20-13 triumph.
Following their Colorado excursion, San Diego State closes out its regular-season slate with a four-game homestand next week. The Aztecs will play host to UC San Diego in a non-conference clash on Tuesday, May 16, before welcoming New Mexico for a three-game series, May 18-20.
Aztecs Prep for Weekend Series at Air Force
