It was yet another crazy week in Mountain West baseball. The top-seeded Falcons got off to a strong start, then fell apart in Texas. SDSU and Nevada took care of business on the road, pushing the notion that home turf might not matter as much as it does in a sport like men’s basketball. And Fresno State and New Mexico recorded the first tie in conference play since 2019, which was also between the two schools in 2019.
So many things happened, which has shuffled up our rankings quite a bit. Here are
our rankings after week seven.
1.SDSU (2)
- Won 8-4 vs UC Irvine
- Won series 2-1 at Grand Canyon (3-9 L, 12-11 W, 7-2 W)
San Diego State jumped back up to the No.1 spot after picking up three wins in four games, including a series win over GCU to get back into conference play.. In the three-game series against GCU, SDSU scored 22 runs that included an electric back-and-forth 12-11 win against the Lopes in the second game of the series. High-scoring, comeback games have been the team’s trademark so far, which has boosted the Aztecs to a 4-2 conference start, good for second in the Mountain West. SDSU will start this week with a ranked opponent on the road against No. 18 Arizona State before going back to conference play against the first place Air Force Falcons.
2.Nevada (4)
- Won 14-9 vs San Francisco
- Won series 2-1 at Washington State (6-12 L, 5-4 W, 12-6 W)
The Wolf Pack redeemed themselves over the last week with a lot of sighs of relief. Despite moving down to third in the conference standings, Nevada played a great week outside of their sole loss to the Cougars, scoring 37 runs across their four games. On top of playing well, the Pack saw the return of infielder Sean Yamaguchi after taking a foul ball to the ankle last weekend against Air Force. Yamaguchi was pivotal to Nevada’s success, especially in the third game against Wazzu where he went 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBIs. With wind in their sails once more, the Wolf Pack will travel to Gonzaga to take on the Bulldogs on the road tonight, then head home for a game against Simpson University on Thursday.
3.SJSU (1)
- Won 18-6 at Santa Clara
- Lost series 1-2 at UNLV
The first-place spot for San Jose State was short-lived after dropping a road series to UNLV. The week started off well, though with an 18-6 win over Santa Clara. The bats stayed awake through the UNLV series, but a total of 41 runs were given up by San Jose State’s pitching staff in that span. The Spartans avoided the sweep in grand fashion with an 18-8 win in the series finale, winning the game in seven innings. Outfielder Brent Cota collected four hits and six RBIs in the win, which included a three-run homer. It allowed SJSU to jump back to .500 in conference play with a 3-3 record, good for sixth in the conference. This is the second time in the last four games that the Spartans have scored 18 runs in just seven innings. The team will play another one-game series against Santa Clara before returning to conference play against Washington State for a three-game home series.
4.UNLV (5)
- Lost 12-11 at No. 22 Arizona State
- Won series 2-1 vs San Jose State (18-7 W in seven, 15-8 W, 8-18 L)
UNLV moves up a spot after a battle with a ranked Arizona State and a series win over San Jose State. The Rebels had a chance to pull out a win over the Sun Devils but fell just short. Down 12-3 in the eighth inning, UNLV scored eight runs that included a grand slam to cut the deficit to one. UNLV had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth and got the tying run in scoring position, but the rally fell just short. UNLV then went on and won the three-game series against San Jose State 2-1, which included some high-scoring games from both sides. It was the first two conference wins for the Rebels this season and will face CSU Bakersfield for a game before facing New Mexico for three games.
5.Air Force (3)
- Won 4-3 at Oral Roberts
- Lost series 0-3 at Tarleton State (2-7, 6-7, 10-11)
The Falcons look good in the conference standings, sitting at 5-1, but that’s easy to hold onto when you don’t play conference games. The week started off well with a 4-3 win over Oral Roberts, but the rest of the week crashed and burned for Air Force. The team was swept by Tarleton State on the road, with two of them being just one-run games. The Air Force hitters matched a season-high 17 hits in the final game of the series with the pitching staff picking up seven strikeouts. Air Force will return home to face Northern Colorado for a game before going back to conference play against San Diego State on the road.
6.Washington State (7)
- Lost 19-8 at Gonzaga in seven
- Lost series 1-2 vs Nevada (12-6 W, 4-5 L, 6-12 L)
It wasn’t the best week for the Cougars, but the team remains high in the MW standings at 5-3. It started with a tough 19-8 loss to Gonzaga before welcoming Nevada for a three-game conference matchup. Things were looking good after the first game, which was a 12-6 win that included nine runs for the Cougars in the first two innings. The next game was a close 5-4 loss before the series finale was a complete 180 from the first game, dropping 12-6 to the Pack. Washington State will get to face Seattle U for a game before facing San Jose State this week.
7.New Mexico (6)
- Lost 12-2 at Texas Tech in eight
- Won series 2-0-1 vs Fresno State (9-8 W, 5-2 W, 18-18 T in 10)
It was an interesting week for both Fresno State and New Mexico. For the Lobos, the week started with a 12-2 loss to Texas Tech on the road. New Mexico returned home to fave Fresno State, winning the first two games of the series and looked for a three-game sweep. In the series finale, it was an offensive dogfight against the Bulldogs that entered the 10th inning with an 18-18 tie. Because of the length of the game and travel constraints, the game was forced to end at that moment, leaving both teams with a tie on their record. Eight different pitchers toed the mound for the Lobos, with all 18 runs being earned. UNM was tagged for 18 runs on 23 hits, striking out seven while walking nine. The Lobos will play rival New Mexico State before facing UNLV on the road for a three-game series.
8.GCU (8)
- Lost 4-5 at Arizona
- Lost series 1-2 vs San Diego State (9-3 W, 11-12 L, 2-7 L)
Similar to weeks past, the Lopes had a decent week that was shadowed by the fact that they lost the majority of their games. With a very close loss to Arizona and a win vs San Diego State to start the weekend series, things were looking up for GCU. Holding two teams with overall good resumes so far to low scoring/average games after a dull March was refreshing. That was until they lost the second game in an 11-12 slugfest and then being shut down 2-7 to formally lose the series. While this did not do much for GCU in terms of standings, the Antelopes showed signs of improvement, which did not earn them any moves up in these rankings but does give us hope for the future. GCU will take on Fresno State to ring in April for the battle for last place, so there will be an opportunity for even more growth depending on how
9.Fresno State (9)
- Won 8-1 vs Long Beach State
- Lost series 0-2-1 at New Mexico (8-9 L, 2-5 L, 18-18 T)
After getting back in the win column against Long Beach State, the woes continued for Fresno State with a winless series versus New Mexico. After losing the first two games of the series, the Bulldogs almost completed the comeback in the third game, but had to leave Albuquerque with a 18-18 tie due to travel constraints. Since starting conference play against Nevada earlier in the month, the Diamond Dogs’ have been put on a leash, especially concerning their great performances in the batters’ box. Since March 13, Fresno State has scored seven or more runs in seven games, only winning one of them. A team can have a great offense, but will be sub-par at best if their defense is not up to snuff, which is exactly the scenario with Fresno State. There are holes in the ship, and they will need to be patched up quickly during a home stand including Cal Poly on Tuesday and a three-game series vs GCU over the weekend.
