Mountain West Baseball Results From Friday May 18th

I don’t normally do this. Silly me, I’ve never done this. And what is “this”? Write about Friday games on Saturday. Well, this is a pretty special weekend as much is at stake for most of the teams in the MWC. Let’s see what happened last night.

San Diego State (18-11) at Nevada (19-9)

OK, the race is over. Nevada ended all the suspense as they scored 5 runs in the bottom of the first and won easily 13-3. Have an amber ale for me folks. Nevada’s Dalton Gomez (3-3) went 8 IP with 10 strikeouts for the win. Second baseman Keaton Smith was the big bat as he had 4 RBIs. San Diego State had no answer for the big first inning and went down rather quietly. As I said earlier, raise an amber ale for me and the Wolf Pack. The Pack will be the #1 seed in the tournament and the Aztecs number 2 so all is not lost and you know how I feel about conference tournaments.

Air Force (12-16) at San Jose State (15-14)

Shane Timmons. That’s all I have to say and I’ll say it again. Shane Timmons. The Spartans win the biggest game for the program in a long time 6-5 with a run in the bottom of the ninth. That run was driven in by, you fill in the blank. In fact all the runs were driven in by, you fill in the blank. Timmons was only 2 for 5 but had 6 RBIs and a dinger (number 8) as he carried the Spartans on his wide shoulders as he has most of the season. Oh, the home run? A grand slam, of course as this was all scripted, right? Yes, I am truly amazed. Andrew Mitchel put in his two cents as he went 6 IP giving up 4 runs (1 earned) and striking out 9 while walking 1. A good outing. This win clinches a spot in the MWC tournament for the Spartans which is the biggest deal of all. The game was witnessed by an amazing 697 folks and I say amazing because this is about 200 more than usual for SJS games. That’s only a little bit behind basketball and football attendance. Yes, that was a dig. Air Force was led by their big gun all year, Nic Ready, as he had 3 RBI to go with his 20th home run. I figure he will be first team All-MWC for first base and Timmons will be second team. Hey, life ain’t fair and Ready deserves the accolades. 

UNLV (14-15) at Fresno State (12-17) 

The Rebels clinch the number 4 seed with a 7-3 win at Fresno which also eliminated the Bulldogs. First baseman Nick Ames of the Rebels had 3 RBIs two of which came on the strength of his 17th home run. The home run came in the top of the 8th inning and broke open a close 4-3 game and pretty much dashed the hopes of the Bulldogs’ players and their fans. He and the other two first basemen in the Mountain West that I mentioned above make choosing the number one guy in the conference a tough choice. Trevor Horn (5-5) went 6+ IP for the win. 

UC Davis (16-32) at New Mexico (18-33)

The Aggies win the first game of this OOC series 13-8 as they score 9 runs in the first 4 innings to keep things out of reach. Hayden Schilling went 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs and Connor Mang went 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs. Keep in mind that Connor is a freshman. A poor showing by the Lobos and I know the coaching staff is looking to next year to see what they can do to get this motor fixed. 

So, Nevada, San Diego State, San Jose State, and UNLV are the four teams that will duke it out to see which will get the automatic bid for the big tournament. Here’s how I see it. If Nevada wins it, they get the auto and SDSU gets an at-large. The Aztecs have a pretty good overall record which will get them some consideration but they MUST get to the final game. UNLV and SJS have no chance so they must win the conference tournament to get the automatic bid. Y’all know I’m a Spartans fan. A bachelor’s in biology, teaching credential, and a master’s in science education; I owe my professional life to San Jose State and my heart to the sports programs. Still, I try to be fair. ANYWAY, here’s why I hate conference tournaments for the mid-major conferences. They usually get one bid and I hate to see a barely made it team get it on a hot streak. Now, that could be SJS but I don’t think they have the depth to survive the grind of a tournament. I think both Nevada and SDSU are the most deserving and should go but . . . . . go Spartans!