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Feb 14, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Washington State second baseman Luke Thiele takes a throw and tags out Alabama base runner Bryce Fowler (9) on an attempted steal at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama played a double header against Washington State Saturday to escape Sunday’s forecast rain. | Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The three runs the Washington State Cougars tacked on in the first inning proved to be plenty of run support for left-handed starter Nick Lewis who mowed down the Air Force Falcons en route to a 5-1 victory.
Lewis was simply brilliant for WSU. He took a shutout in the ninth inning and was an out away from a complete game, going 8.2 innings. He surrendered just one unearned runs, giving up seven hits and striking out 11 Falcons. His efforts earned him his ninth win of the season.
After retiring the side in order in the top half of the first, the Cougars pounced on the Air Force starter Jordan Watkins. Gavin Roy got the party started with a double into left center. With two outs and Roy still standing on second, Matt Priest laced a single up the middle to score Roy and give WSU the early 1-0 lead. After a Dustin Robinson walk, Ryan Skjonsby delivered a triple down the right field line into the corner to push two more across and make it a 3-0 lead.
With two outs in the bottom half of the second, Trevor Smith kept the inning going with a single into right. The next batter, Roy, got a breaking ball on a 1-2 count and didn’t miss, sending his second home run of the season just over the wall in left to extend the lead out to 5-0.
The Falcons pulled their starter, Watkins, after just two innings. Bowen Brantingham took over in relief and limited the Cougar offense from there, giving up no runs in his 3.2 innings of work.
On the other side, Lewis continued to dominate the Falcons lineup. Through five innings of work, he had allowed just one hit and struck out six. The Falcons finally started to find some life against Lewis in the sixth inning, loading the bases with two outs for five-hole hitter Tripp Garrish. On a 3-2 count, Lewis threw one of his best pitches of the night, a beautiful inside breaking ball that rolled off the table and fooled Garrish to preserve the shutout and get him out of his first, and only, jam of the game.
Though the Air Force bullpen stifled the Cougar offense, holding them scoreless after that second inning, Lewis was just too much for Air Force. He took a shutout into the ninth, but after allowing an unearned run off a throwing error with two outs in the ninth, his night came to a close after 124 pitches. August Richie entered with two on and only needed four pitches to get the final out and send WSU to the Mountain West semifinals.
WSU will meet the #1 seed San Diego State Aztecs at 1:05pm. If they win, they will advance to the championship game only needing one win to win the conference tournament. If they lose, however, they will play again at 6:05pm against the winner of New Mexico and Air Force.
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