Aztecs Ground Air Force, 11-2, to Clinch Series Victory

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State secured its third straight series victory to open Mountain West play with a big 11-2 triumph over Air Force on Friday in the second game of a weekend set at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

The Aztecs (17-15, 6-2 MW) banged out 15 hits to take over sole possession of first place in the MW standings, one-half game ahead of idle Nevada (17-10, 6-3 MW), while the Falcons (11-17, 5-4 MW) drop to third in the conference race.

Five players collected multiple hits for SDSU, led by Max Farrell (3 runs) and Zach Justice, who finished with three hits and three RBIs apiece, while Tyce Peterson, Jake Jackson and Anthony Marnell IV recorded two hits each.

In addition, the Aztecs received another solid performance from five pitchers, who combined on a six-hitter with 11 strikeouts.

Starter Drew Talavs (3-2) earned the victory after surrendering one hit and three walks with five strikeouts in five scoreless innings, while relievers Carson Johnson (1.0 IP) and Simon Lemke (1.0 IP) fanned two batters apiece in their respective outings.

SDSU played small ball in the second inning when it erupted for four runs on five hits. Farrell laced a one-out single to shallow right and took third when Marnell’s hit to the almost identical location was mishandled by Blake Campbell. Moments later, Dawson Santana reached safely on a perfectly executed squeeze play, as Farrell raced home. Zane Kelly then beat out a chopper to the right side of the infield to load the bases.

Shortly thereafter, Marnell crossed the plate on Jabin Trosky’s sacrifice fly, with Santana and Kelly advancing on a subsequent balk. Justice promptly brought in the two Aztec baserunners with a two-out single through the left side, giving the Scarlet and Black the momentum it would not relinquish.

SDSU soon cranked up the power in the fourth when Farrell went deep with his third homer of the season, a three-run bomb to left that knocked in  Jackson and Adam Magpoc. Previously, Jackson led off with a single to right center and stole second, while Magpoc drew a walk.

Talavs faced his lone threat in the fourth after Ben Niednagel, Tripp Garrish and Luke Elmore walked to load the bases, with Wyatt Hanoian, the second batter of the inning, flew out to right. However, Talavs flashed his mettle with strikeouts of Garrett Hutchins and Van Klein to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

Buoyed by their good fortune, the Aztecs extended their lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the frame when Justice crushed a 2-0 pitch from Air Force starter Gaines Estridge deep over the left field fence, a solo shot, for his third round-tripper of the year.

Thanks to deep shots by Farrell and Justice, the Scarlet and Black has homered in eight consecutive games.

SDSU found a different way to score in the fifth when Kelly struck out swinging but reached safely on a wild pitch, allowing Marnell to cross the plate from third. Earlier, Marnell ripped a one-out double off the wall in right center and subsequently advanced on Santana’s ground out to second.

Trailing 9-0, the Falcons spoiled the Aztecs’ hopes for a shutout in the sixth on Elmore’s RBI triple off Alito McBean, while Hutchins followed with a run-scoring single.

SDSU closed out the scoring with sacrifice flies by Santana in the sixth and Marnell in the eighth.

Estridge (1-4) was tagged with the loss for Air Force after absorbing the brunt of the Aztec offense, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

San Diego State will look to complete the sweep against the Falcons on Saturday, April 4, when the two teams lock horns in the series finale at 1 p.m. PT. The Aztecs are projected to start Alec Belardes (2-3), while Air Force is expected to counter with fellow right-hander Jordan Watkins (1-2).