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T.J. Fondtain, Omar Serrano combine on four-hitter
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
March 25, 2023 (San Diego) - San Diego State open its weekend series against Air Force in style Friday with an impressive 11-0 victory at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
T.J. Fondtain and Omar Serrano joined forces on a four-hit shutout, while Shaun Montoya went yard for the first time in his career to help the Aztecs raise their record to 6-11 on the year and 3-2 in Mountain West action.
In addition to Montoya’s big night, which featured a double and three-runs scored, Irvin Weems ripped a three-run double, while Caden Miller finished with two RBIs of his own.
Fondtain (2-1) collected his second victory of the season and combined for his second career shutout, scattering four hits and three walks in six-plus innings to go with eight strikeouts. After the SDSU starter yielded two consecutive singles to start the seventh, Serrano took the mound and retired the final nine batters of the contest to earn his first collegiate save.
With his performance, Fondtain is 2-0 over his last four starts, posting a 2.16 ERA with 29 strikeouts against eight walks in that span.
The Scarlet and Black capitalized on an early break in the first when Montoya raced home on a wild pitch by Falcon starter Doyle Gehring. Previously, the Aztec right fielder drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a groundout and a passed ball.
The Aztecs soon extended their advantage in the third when Montoya doubled to right and scored on Cole Carrigg’s, while Miller drove in Xavier Gonzalez with an RBI single in the fourth, which gave the host school a 3-0 lead.
SDSU broke open the contest with three runs in the sixth off reliever Jason Shuger, who replaced Gehring to start the inning. Drew Giannini walked, while pinch runner Tino Bethancourt took second on Cade Martinez’s sacrifice before stealing third. Moments later, Miller plated Bethancourt with a sacrifice fly to left.
Shortly thereafter, Weems drew a walk, while Montoya followed with his first collegiate homer, blasting the first pitch from Shuger over the right-field fence to give the Aztecs a comfortable 6-0 cushion.
SDSU took advantage of three walks by Joey Collier in the seventh, as Poncho Ruiz, Bethancourt and Miller circled the bases on Weems’ double to the gap in right-center on an 0-2 offering with two outs.
The Aztecs then closed out the scoring with a pair of unearned markers in the eighth, courtesy of Gonzalez’s RBI groundout and Ruiz’s run-scoring single, which plated Carrigg and Tyler Glowacki, who both reached on consecutive fielding errors to lead off the frame.
In all, Air Force (8-14, 3-4 MW) utilized six pitchers on the night, as Gehring (1-2) absorbed the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks to go with seven strikeouts.
The Falcons’ Sam Kulasingam drew a leadoff walk in the first and later stole second with two outs. However, Fondtain struck out Matt Thompson to end the threat.
Air Force also received a leadoff double from Jake Greiving in the fourth, but Fondtain rose to the occasion once again, fanning Thompson and Chase Spencer before inducing a flyout to Aerik Joe.
The two sides resume their conference series on Saturday at 6 p.m.
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