Air Force Academy

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Lance Zawadzki's walk-off homer in the ninth inning gave San Diego State a 9-8 win and four-game series sweep of Air Force in Mountain West Conference game that was scheduled for seven innings, Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Zawadzki also hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh that sent the game into extra innings.

The Falcons (5-32, 0-16 MWC) failed to hold an early 2-0 lead and a 8-5 lead after five innings. The Falcons led 8-6 headed into the bottom of the seventh, but the Aztecs (15-24, 9-7) tied the game up as Zawadzki belted a two-run homer off Falcon reliever Kyle DePierre.

Zawazki then connected for his second homer of the game off Andrew Goss in the ninth to end the game.

The loss overshadowed a strong pitching effort by Falcon starter Clayton Couch and home runs produced by Dustin Smith and Nathan DeRohan. Couch, who made his first start of the season, held the Aztecs to six runs, five earned, while striking out five in 5.2 innings pitched.

Smith put the Falcons up 1-0 in the first with his second home run of the season. DeRohan highlighted a five-run fourth inning, with his sixth homer of the season, that propelled the Falcons ahead 7-4 at that point.

Up 2-0 after the top of the first, SDSU rallied for a run in the bottom of the inning and added three more in the third to go ahead 4-2. Then the Falcons scored five runs off five base hits in the fourth to go up 7-4. Air Force tacked on a run in the top of the fifth to go up 8-5 after SDSU added a run in the bottom of the fourth.

The Aztecs had 13 hits in the game, with Quintin Berry, Brock Ungricht, Jordan Swaydan and Zawadzki with two hits apiece. Bruce Billings (5-3), who was the starting pitcher in game one of the series, tossed four innings of no-hit baseball to pick up the win in relief.

The Falcons had 12 hits in the game, with Reid Lamson, Smith and DeRohan with two hits apiece.

Air Force returns to action this Thurs.-Sat., April 28-30, hosting a three-game set against MWC first-place BYU. Thursday and Friday's games begin at 2 p.m.


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