Air Force baseball (14-17, 7-8 MW) dropped a 15-11 contest to San Diego State (21-11, 8-6 MW) in a Mountain West ballgame Sunday afternoon at Falcon Field. Catcher Rob Dau led the Falcons with three hits, a home run and four RBIs.
A pair of big innings put San Diego State ahead 10-2. The Aztecs scored four in the first inning and six in the fifth.
Air Force rallied with nine runs over the final five innings, but Aztecs were able to maintain the lead.
The Falcons had 19 hits on the day, with four recording three hits. Joining Dau with three hits were Colby Brown, Ashton Easley and Jacob Booker. Easley homered and scored two runs. Brown scored two runs and drove in two. Booker reached base four times, adding a walk to his three hits.
Falcons starting pitcher Tyler Mortenson (1-5) pitched 4.2 innings, striking out four. Joe Kincart, Ethan Nichols, Luke Chilcutt and Josh Leaser pitched in relief. Leaser pitched two scoreless innings.
San Diego State hit four home runs on the day. David Hensley went 3-for-4 with an inside-the-park home run and four RBIs. Jordan Verdon, Casey Schmitt and Joe Fitzhugh also homered.
Reliever Adrian Mardueno (4-0) picked up the win. Starter Justin Goosen-Brown went 4.1 innings, allowing five runs.
The Falcons trailed 4-1 after the first inning. After the six-runs by SDSU, the Falcons scored three in the bottom of the inning.
The two teams traded runs in the sixth before the Aztecs scored three in the seventh and one in the top of the eight to go up 15-6.
Air Force fought back with three runs in the eighth and two in the ninth.
The Falcons have a day off Monday before returning to action at Seattle U with a two-game series, Tues.-Wed., April 10-11.
