Falcons Split Doubleheader at San Diego State

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Air Force Academy baseball team split a doubleheader against Mountain West Conference foe San Diego State Friday, April 19, at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Falcons (17-21, 7-11 MW) took the opener, 5-2, while the Aztecs (23-17, 9-7 MW) took the nightcap, 6-3.

Game One: Air Force 5, San Diego State 2

The pitching duo of senior Jake Gilbert and freshman Nathan Price led the charge in the opener, as they combined to go the distance. Gilbert tossed the first six, only allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits and striking out three to get to 100 for his AF career. He moved to 4-2 on the season, and lowered his ERA to 1.85 over 48.2 innings.

In relief, Price went the final three innings, throwing shutout ball with just two hits allowed. It was his second save of the season, and his ERA now sits at 2.39 over 37.2 innings.

On offense, the Falcons used home runs from seniors Nic Ready and Daniel Jones to give the pitching staff enough of a lead to work with. Ready's was a two run shot, and was the fifth of his season and 42^nd of his career. Jones, meanwhile, had a solo shot for the second dinger of his season. On top of that, junior Ashton Easley had a two hit game, including an RBI.

The Falcons jumped all over Aztec pitching early. In the top of the first, Ready blasted a two run homer, his fifth of the season. In the second, Jones added a solo shot of his own to make it 3-0. With two outs, senior Drew Wiss doubled and Easley singled him in to double the lead, 4-0, after two trips to the plate.

From there it was all Gilbert as he mowed down opposing batters to keep the shutout in tact into the sixth inning. There, he ran into some trouble and gave up the shutout with a pair of runs, one unearned, to cut the lead to 4-2 with three to play.

In the seventh, Price took over on the mound and fired a scoreless frame to get it to the eighth. In the top of the eighth, AF got some insurance after capitalizing on an Aztec error. Wiss drew a leadoff walk and got to second on a wild pitch. After a single and error, Wiss charged home to make it a three run game, 5-2.

Price continued to carve in the bottom of the eighth, working around a hit by pitch to keep the three run lead. In the bottom of the ninth, he yielded a one out double, but got the final two batters to fly out, to lock down the three inning save and the three run win.

Game Two: San Diego State 6, Air Force 3

In game two, AF had a late rally to tie the game in the eighth inning, but SDSU responded with a three run bottom of the eighth to escape with the nightcap win.

Air Force got another solid start from a senior pitcher as Matt Hargreaves took a no decision after going the first 6.1, allowing just three runs and striking out four.

At the plate, the Falcons got another solo homer, this one from junior Tommy Gillman, his second of the season. The other runs were driven in by senior Rob Dau and freshman Alexander Pup, while Ready added a double.

Gillman got the scoring started with a solo home run to right field in just the second at bat of the game, giving AF the first inning lead for the second consecutive game. SDSU had the immediate response this time, striking for two in the bottom half of the first to gain a 2-1 lead into the second.

After a scoreless second, the Aztecs tacked another on in the third with a two out single, making it a two run game still early on. AF's offense continued to sputter, however, but Hargreaves was able to keep the SDSU bats in check, keeping the 3-1 tally into the top of the seventh.

There, AF used some patience at the plate as three consecutive walks loaded the bases up. Pup then drew the fourth walk of the frame to get the Falcons back to within one. Despite having the bases juiced, Air Force could not add any more to keep it a one run game into the stretch.

In the top of the eighth, Ready ripped a one out double, and one batter later, Dau singled to center to knot the game up at three apiece into the bottom of the eighth. There, SDSU got a pair of two out hits to plate three runs and take a lead into the ninth. AF then went down in order in the top of the ninth to seal the tough defeat and the DH split.

The two teams return to the diamond tomorrow afternoon, April 20, for the series finale. First pitch from Tony Gwynn stadium is set for 2 p.m. MT.

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