Air Force Baseball's Season Comes to a Close in Mountain West Tournament

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Air Force	0	1	0	1	3	3	0	0	0	8	12	0
San Diego St.	0	0	0	0	1	5	2	3	X	11	11	0

Air Force

San Diego St.

MESA, Ariz., - No. 3 seed Air Force saw its season come to a close in game seven of the Mountain West Championships, falling 11-8 to No. 1 seed San Diego State on Saturday evening at Sloan Park. The Falcons totaled 12 hits while the pitching staff combined for seven strikeouts in the season finale.

Senior Landon Boyd and freshman Wyatt Hanoian each recorded two hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored, while Ben Niednagel and Walker Zapp each drove in a run in their final games as Falcons.

Starting pitcher Patrick Davidson delivered a strong outing, striking out three while allowing just one hit and one run across 4.2 innings. Trey Rutledge surrendered five runs in two-thirds of an inning before Gunner Gilmore recorded a strikeout in relief. Sam Hentges (2-1) struck out three batters but allowed four runs, while Gaines Estridge recorded the final two outs.

Air Force opened the scoring in the top of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Wyatt Hanoian led off with a single before Christian Taylor added another base hit to put two runners aboard. Garrett Hutchins followed with an RBI single through the middle to plate the game's first run.

Hanoian extended the lead to 2-0 in the fourth with a towering 422-foot solo homer over the center field wall.

The Falcons added three more runs in the fifth to move ahead 5-0. Back-to-back singles from Luke Elmore and Boyd, along with a hit-by-pitch to Ben Niednagel, loaded the bases for Zapp, who drew an RBI walk. Hanoian then lifted a sacrifice fly before Niednagel scored on a wild pitch.

San Diego State answered with its first run in the bottom half of the fifth to trim the deficit to 5-1.

Air Force responded with three more runs in the sixth to build an 8-1 advantage. Taylor was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and advanced on a Hutchins single. Following a fielder's choice by Elmore, Boyd delivered a two-run double before Niednagel brought him home with an RBI triple.

The Aztecs rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 8-6 before tying the game at 8-8 in the seventh inning.

San Diego State completed the comeback with three runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure the 11-8 victory.

Despite being selected to finish last in the preseason coaches' poll, Air Force concluded the season with a third-place finish in the Mountain West and a trip to the conference tournament semifinals.

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