Washington State rides dominant outing from ace Nick Lewis, beats Air Force in Mountain West tournament opener

May 22-MESA, Ariz. - Washington State's offense created an early advantage, and the Cougs' ace handled things from there.

Sophomore left-hander Nick Lewis showed why he earned Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year honors, nearly finishing a complete game for WSU in its conference tournament opener. The second-seeded Cougars plated all of their runs in the first two innings, then rode Lewis' dominant outing to a 5-1 win over third-seeded Air Force on Friday evening at Sloan Park.

WSU (28-25) advances to the semifinal round to face top-seeded San Diego State (34-22) at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday.

Lewis was an out short of a complete-game shutout. He gave up a pair of singles in the ninth, then Air Force (26-27) got an unearned run across with a bunt and a throwing error from third base. August Richie replaced Lewis and induced a flyout to end the game.

Lewis (9-2) recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts, allowing seven hits and two walks over 124 pitches. He faced the minimum in the first, third, fifth and eighth innings, striking out the side in the third. He didn't run into any trouble until the sixth, when the Falcons got two runners aboard on singles with one out, then loaded the bases with two outs on a plunked batter, but Lewis escaped the jam with a strikeout.

"I think it's fastball command," WSU coach Nathan Choate said of Lewis during a mid-game interview on Mountain West Network. "It's not like 97 (mph) like people want to throw nowadays, but he's pitching (well). He's commanding his fastball, and throwing his curveball and changeup pretty well."

WSU's lineup staked Lewis to an early lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. All-conference first-team second baseman Gavin Roy hit a one-out double and Matt Priest drove him in with a two-out single. Dustin Robinson walked, setting up Ryan Skjonsby, who tripled down the right-field line to score two.

Trevor Smith singled and Roy belted a two-run homer in the second to put WSU ahead 5-0.

WSU totaled 11 hits, including six for extra bases, against seven hits for the Falcons, who managed one extra-base knock. Air Force's relief staff limited the Cougs to six hits over the last six innings.

Robinson tallied two doubles for WSU and also had an impressive defensive play in the seventh, making a catch in left field while slamming into the wall off a dead sprint. Roy, Priest and Kyler Northrop had two hits apiece.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 11:41 PM.