Aztecs take series against Air Force with 9-2 win

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — San Diego State broke out the bats on a warm Sunday afternoon, scoring early and often in a 9-2 Mountain West Conference victory over Air Force that gave the Aztecs a series win.

The Aztecs (26-25, 15-12 MWC) scored four runs in the first inning and added three more in the second to beat Air Force (14-35, 6-21) for the 28th time in the past 29 meetings at Tony Gwynn Stadium. That was plenty of run support for junior right-hander Philip Walby, who limited the Falcons to two fifth-inning runs. Walby (3-3) allowed four hits over seven innings with one strikeout and two walks before sophomore left-hander Michael RoBards and junior right-hander Justin Hepner finished off the Falcons.

SDSU enters the final weekend of conference play trailing UNLV by one game for second place. The top two teams in the regular season receive a first-round by in the double-elimination MWC Tournament, which will be played May 22-26 in Fresno. The Aztecs play host to conference champion New Mexico for three games this weekend while the Rebels travel to Air Force.

In Sunday's game, the Aztecs jumped on Air Force starting pitcher Steven Trojan (3-6) from the outset, with the first five hitters he faced reaching base. Matt Munoz led off with a single and Greg Allen walked before Tim Zier singled up the middle for the game's first run. When Ryan Muno walked and Jake Romanski was hit by a pitch to force in another run, Trojan's day was done without recording an out. Air Force went to the bullpen and reliever Alex Baker allowed one run on Ty France's infield out and another on Brad Haynal's sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.

Zier singled in another run in the second inning and Romanski singled in two more, giving SDSU a 7-0 advantage. Haynal's RBI single in the sixth completed the scoring. Zier led the Aztecs' 12-hit attack with three hits. He also drove in three runs, giving him 35 RBI on the season to share the team lead with Muno. Romanski also drove in three runs in the game and Haynal had two RBI.

MOUNTAIN WEST STANDINGS

New Mexico (22-5, 32-18)
UNLV (16-11, 34-17)

San Diego State (15-12, 26-25)

Nevada (11-16, 24-27)

Fresno State (11-16, 18-31)

Air Force (6-21, 14-35)

REMAINING MWC SCHEDULE

May 16-18

New Mexico at San Diego State

UNLV at Air Force

Nevada at Fresno State

May 22-26

MWC Tournament at Fresno State