San Jose, Calif. - San Jose State University and the United States Air Force Academy had their Jack Gifford Memorial Baseball Tournament game suspended by rain at Municipal Stadium on Friday afternoon, March 12.

The contest, serving as the Spartans' tournament opener, had already been moved up from a 6:00 p.m. start to 12:00 p.m. with rains expected in the area. Play began as scheduled with a light rain present, and continued as the precipitation increased, until a delay was finally brought on in the top of the fourth inning, with San Jose State nursing a 2-0 advantage, but the Falcons threatening with runners at first and second and only one out. Senior rightfielder Ben Ausbin was the batter, with a 1-2 count on him against junior Spartan left-hander John Austin (0-1).

San Jose State began the day with an even overall record of 5-5. Air Force, a member of the Mountain West Conference, is 3-10 on the year and 0-1 in the five-team tournament which is being co-hosted by San Jose State and Santa Clara, and runs through Sunday, March 14. The Spartans and Falcons had not met on the baseball diamond since 1997, when they were fellow members of the Western Athletic Conference.

The suspended game will be resumed from where it left off at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, ahead of the regularly-scheduled nine-inning contest between San Jose State and Air Force. The Spartans were already slated to play a twin bill that day, taking on UC Davis in the tournament finale at 3:00 p.m. First pitch for that game will have to be pushed back. No determination had yet been made on that at press time.

Prior to the delay of approximately 30 minutes and the subsequent suspension of play, San Jose State manufactured single runs in the first and third frames, while Austin got himself out of a couple of adverse situations. The transfer from College of San Mateo breezed through a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 first.

Junior Spartan designated hitter Craig Hertler drew a four-pitch walk from senior Falcon right-hander Alex Truesdale to lead off the home half. After three straight fielder's choice groundouts, with an infield error on the middle one, left runners at the corners in senior catcher Corey Valine at first and freshman leftfielder Tim Quiery at third with two gone. Another fielding error by the Air Force infield on a sharp grounder by senior rightfielder Alex Sofranac, allowed Quiery to score the Spartans' first first-inning run of the season in their 11th game.

Austin gave up a leadoff double to freshman leftfielder Alex Bast in the second, but left him stranded at third with a ground ball to second, a strikeout on Ausbun and another grounder to first baseman Breyon Canez that he himself made the putout on after sprinting to the bag.

Back-to-back full-count walks with one out in the third put Austin in some more trouble, but the graduate of Mountain View's Saint Francis High School wriggled out of the jam. Following a flyout, a pitch skipped by Valine, but not far enough toward the back-stop to prevent the veteran to go back, retrieve the ball and toss to Austin for the tag at the plate for out number three.

Quiery was the catalyst in the third for the Spartans, notching a base hit through the right side to start things off. Junior centerfielder Jason Martin's perfect bunt moved the Serra High School product to second, with Valine's flyout to right advancing him to third. Quiery scored the game's second run on a clutch single to center by Sofranac on a 1-2 count.

A one-out single by Bast and four-pitch walk to senior designated hitter Matt Alexander put Air Force in business in the fourth before the rains became too much to play through.

The Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament continues on Saturday, March 13, with three more games. San Jose State welcomes Southern Illinois (5-7) back to Muni for a 6:00 p.m. tilt, having posted an 18-6 victory there over the Salukis in a pre-tournament meeting on Wednesday, March 10. Santa Clara (5-6) will take on Air Force at 1:00 p.m. and UC Davis (7-6) at 6:00 p.m. at Schott Stadium.

San Jose State 2, Air Force 0 (Partial Score)

Air Force (3-10) 000 0 - 0 2 2
San Jose State (5-5) 101 X - 2 3 0

Note: 1 out, 2 runners on base when the game was suspended.

Truesdale and Custons. John Austin and Corey Valine. WP - N/A. LP - N/A. Save - N/A. 2B - Bast (AF). 2 hits - Bast (AF). Attendance - N/A.