From staff reports
San Diego State University’s Jake Jackson earned recognition as the Mountain West Freshman of the Week for the third time this season following his performance in the Aztecs’ conference series against Air Force, May 10-12, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Jackson’s award gives SDSU 12 Mountain West weekly honors this year, joining Colby Turner, who received Freshman of the Week recognition on five occasions (Feb. 26, March 4, March 18, April 1, April 8), while Jacob McCombs garnered the same accolade on April 15.
In addition, Jacob Riordan (April 1) and Omar Serrano (May 6) merited MW Pitcher of the Week acclaim earlier this season.
Jackson collected his two previous conference Freshman of the Week certificates on Feb. 18 and April 15.
Jackson was the hero in the Aztecs’ 8-4 triumph over Air Force on Sunday by belting his first career grand slam in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie, as the hosts salvaged the finale of a weekend series and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Falcons, who were denied the opportunity to forge a three-way for first in the Mountain West standings with Fresno State and New Mexico.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Jackson crushed an 0-2 pitch over fence just to the left of straight-away center field as the Aztec dugout erupted in jubilation.
Jackson led SDSU with six RBI and a .636 slugging percentage for the series, recording his 13th game with multiple hits last Friday thanks to a 2-for-4 effort at the plate when he also contributed a sacrifice fly.
The San Diego native and Madison High School alumnus also added a sacrifice fly in Saturday’s contest to go with a spectacular diving catch along left-field line that helped prevent a big Falcon inning.
For the season, Jackson has started 38 of 43 games and is currently slotted second on the team with a .288 batting average, 30 RBI and five stolen bases. He also ranks among the Aztec leaders in several additional categories, including hits (tied for third, 42), doubles (tied for third, 9), slugging percentage (fourth, 0.418), runs scored (fourth) and on-base percentage (fifth, 0.340).
Sweet sweep
The Aztecs (15-35 overall, 9-18 in MW play) close out regular season conference play with a three-game series May 15-18 at Nevada-Reno. The Aztecs are still on cloud nine following a three-game sweep over Fresno State May 3-5 at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
SDSU rallied from a 7-6 deficit in the series opener as pinch hitter Zane Kelly (Las Vegas) put the Aztecs in the lead for good with a three-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning en route to a 9-8 victory.
Shaun Montoya (Rancho Cucamonga) led SDSU with a three-for-five performance at the plate, highlighted by a two-run home run in the first inning as the hosts snapped a 10-game losing streak.
Hilltop High School/Southwestern College alumnus Xavier Gonzalez hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning of the May 4 contest for the Aztecs, who secured a series victory for just the second time this season.
Downey’s Serrano (4-5) picked up the win for SDSU by allowing just one run on four hits and three walks while posting seven strikeouts.
In the series finale, a 5-2 SDSU win, Tino Bethancourt (El Dorado Hills) set the tone with a three-run home run in the first inning. He led off the sixth inning with a double and later scored on La Costa Canyon alum Brady Lavoie’s two-out single to left field. Starter Xavier Cardenas III (2-5) pitched six scoreless innings for this second victory of the season, offsetting three hits and two walks with five strikeouts for the La Habra native.
SDSU will host the conference championship tournament May 23-26.
