San Diego State will go into the final three games of the regular season with a 1 ½-game lead over both Washington State and Air Force in the Mountain West Conference baseball standings.
The Aztecs defeated San Jose State 4-1 Sunday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium to win two of three games against the Spartans in their weekend series.
San Diego State is 32-20 overall and 15-6 in Mountain West play. Air Force and Washington State are each 15-9 with three games to play.
Shortstop Jabin Trosky led the Aztecs on Sunday, going 2-for-4 with a two-run single in the first. Relief pitcher Aidan Russell struck out three in four perfect innings to record the save. Pitchers Alec Belardes and Carson Johnson held San Jose State (21-27, 8-13) to one run on four hits over the first five innings.
San Diego State is the first team to clinch a spot in the Mountain West Tournament, which starts May 21 in Mesa, Ariz.
CSUSM golfers in NCAA finals
Both the Cal State University men’s and women’s golf teams will be competing in the NCAA Division II National Championships.
The CSUSM men on Saturday finished in a tie for fourth among 20 teams competing in the NCAA West/South Central Regionals in Stockton to earn its berth in the NCAA Championships, which start May 18 in Boulder City, Nev. Redshirt freshman Liam Weaver (Coronado High School) tied for second in the field, finishing at nine-under par 207 on rounds of 66-71-70. Kai Miyala tied for 10th at 215 and was followed by Gavin McCormick (tied for 60th, 222), Aiden Canada (tied for 67th, 223). Freshman Julian Gay (Patrick Henry High School) scored a 153 in the first two rounds, while Johnny Sprague shot an 83 on the final day.
The seventh-ranked CSUSM women won the NCAA West Regionals by seven strokes earlier last week in Pueblo, Colo., to qualify for their NCAA Championships Tuesday through Friday at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Avery Foster finished second in the individual competition with a three-round total of 224, 11 over par. Kiara Hernandez tied for sixth place at 227 and was followed by Carmella Carlisi (231) and freshman Ellaclair Leedom (Cathedral Catholic High School) and Abby Sickles, who tied for 28th at 234.
3C2A State Championships
Fresno City College (27-0) defeated MiraCosta College (25-5) 3-0 Saturday to win the California Community College Athletic Association’s Beach Volleyball Championship at Mt. San Antonio College.
MiraCosta went 12-0 in Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play to reach the state championships for a third straight year. MiraCosta’s tandem of Hailey Heflin and Kiara Keibel finished third in the pairs championship after defeating eventual champions Lusa Andrews and Jayla Iverson of Fresno in pool play.
• San Diego City College’s Hunter Lynch lost in the quarterfinals of the 3C2A state singles championships and teamed with his brother Thomas to reach the semifinals of the doubles bracket. Graduates of The Learning Choice Academy in La Mesa, the Lynch brothers also won the Inland Empire Athletic Conference doubles title this season.
• Second-ranked Palomar College (39-5) will host Santa Barbara City College (28-16) in a best 2-of-3 3C2A Southern California Baseball Super Regionals starting on Friday. The winner will advance to the state championships, which start May 23 in Irvine.
• Second-ranked Palomar College (41-2) and Mesa College (30-13) will compete in the eight-team, double-elimination 3C2A State Softball Championships beginning Thursday in Bakersfield.