Lewis Leads Cougars Past Air Force, WSU Clinches Postseason Berth

Friday, May 8

USAF Academy, CO

2 p.m.

Washington State University

26-23, 14-9

Air Force

23-23, 14-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Washington St.	2	0	3	0	0	1	2	3	0	11	13	1
Air Force	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	8	3

Lewis Leads Cougars Past Air Force, WSU Clinches Postseason Berth

May 08, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score GAME HIGHLIGHTS Postgame Interviews - Choate - Lewis

By: Washington State Athletic Communications

COLORADO SPRINGS (May 8, 2026) – Nick Lewis worked seven innings to lead Washington State to a series-opening 11-2 win over Air Force at Erdle Field in Colorado Springs Friday afternoon.

With the win, WSU clinches a spot in the 2026 Mountain West Conference Tournament, the Cougars first postseason appearance since reaching the NCAA Regional in 2010.

Lewis allowed just two earned runs and struck out six to earn his eighth win of the season, the most by a Cougar pitcher since Joe Pistorese in 2015. Lewis leads the Mountain West in innings (81.2), wins (8) and ERA (3.42) and has seen the Cougars go 9-1 in his last 10 starts.

Five Cougar hitters recorded multiple-hits lead by Max Hartman's three who also drove in two runs and scored twice. Gavin Roy had two hits, scored three times, drove in two runs and tripled, Matt Priest and Ryan Skjonsby each drove in two runs and Kyler Northrop tripled.

WSU built a 5-1 lead with two in the first and three in the third to back Lewis. The Cougars pulled away with runs in three-straight innings before August Richie worked scoreless eighth and ninth innings to seal up the postseason-clinching victory.

The Cougars notched their 14^th conference win for the most since 2014, their 13^th road win for the third-most road wins since 2000 and beat an Air Force team who was 14-0 at home this season.

KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
The Cougars struck for a pair runs in the first after RBI-singles from Matt Priest and Ryan Skjonsby. WSU used two bunt singles to third base, a pair of hit-by-pitch and an Air Force error to plate three runs in the third for a 5-0 lead.

Air Force cut the Cougar lead to 5-2 with a run in the third and another in the fifth but WSU answered with a run in the sixth. Dustin Robinson worked a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Skjonsby's RBI-single back up the middle for a 6-2 advantage.

The Falcons put runners on first and second with two outs in the sixth but Lewis ended the threat with his sixth strikeout. WSU struck for two more in the seventh after a Kyler Northrop triple off the left field wall, Roy tripled to centerfield to score Northrop and Hartman followed with an RBI-double off the centerfield wall for an 8-2 lead.

WSU put the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth after an Air Force throwing error on a double steal allowed Skjonsby to score. Roy and Hartman later added back-to-back RBI-singles to cap the scoring at 11-2.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

WSU was hit by the pitch 4 times, pushing season total to 104, the 2^nd-most in WSU single-season history, the school record in 107 (2004)
Gavin Roy was hit by a pitch in the 1^st to extend his on-base streak to 36 games, the 5^th-longest on-base streak in WSU history
Trevor Smith put down a bunt single in the 3^rd to extend his hitting streak to 7 games and on-base streak to 9 games
Kyler Northrop tripled in the 7^th to extend his on-base streak to 30 games, tied for 10^th-longest in WSU history

ON DECK
The series continues Saturday at Noon (PT).