Falcons opens 2002 season, Jan. 26-27, at New Mexico State
1/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 21, 2002
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This Weekend: Air Force opens the 2002 campaign with a three-game non-conference series against New Mexico State in Las Cruces. The teams play a doubleheader, Saturday, Jan. 26, at 11 a.m. and a single game Sunday at noon.
First Home Series: Air Force opens the 23-game home schedule with a three-game series against Hastings College, Feb. 2-3, at Falcon Field.
Looking Back: Air Force ended the 2001 season with a 23-33 overall record and an 8-21 mark in the Mountain West Conference. The Falcons placed sixth in the regular season and were eliminated in two games at the MWC Tournament, May 16-17, in San Diego. Air Force, the sixth seed, fell to regular season champion BYU, 7-1, in the first round. The Falcons were eliminated by second-seed San Diego State, 8-0, in the second round.
Most Division I Wins Ever: Air Force set a new school record with 19 Division I wins last season. AFA broke the record of 17 set in 1964. The 1964 team won 22 games overall, including five against non-Division I team.
Best Winning Percentage since 1995: Air Force's .411 winning percentage last season was the best since the 1995 team posted a .537 winning percentage with a 29-25 record.
Who's Coming Back?: Due to graduation, the Falcons lost some offensive production from last season, but Air Force will return several key players. Starting pitchers Erik Fisher, Matt Kaercher and Johnny Koegel all return. Fisher posted a solid 6.07 ERA but was 2-11 due to low run production and a team-high 21 unearned runs against him (1.5 per start). Kaercher was 4-6 last season with two saves and 60 strikeouts. Koegel was also 4-6 with one save and 40 strikeouts. Sophomore outfielder Tony Shockley led the team with a .351 batting average and had 10 stolen bases in just 23 starts. Sophomore infielder Brian LaBasco hit .325 and tied for the team lead with 12 stolen bases. Infielder Bowie Frost, who started at first and third last season, hit .320 with four home runs.
Pitchers Climbing up Career Strikeout List: Prior to last season, no Falcon pitcher had cracked the top 10 in career strikeouts in 12 years. Last season, Mike Tufte finished his career ranked second with 224. The Falcons currently have two more pitchers who rank among the top seven.
1. Bob Wright (1981-84), 278 T2. Rich Haynie (1971-74), 224 T2. Mike Tufte (1998-2001), 224 4. Erik Fisher (1999-Present), 202 5. Alan McClure (1964-66), 196 6. Pete Bracci (1963-64), 183 7. Matt Kaercher (1999-Present), 182The Coach: Reed Peters (UNLV, 1992) is in his third season as the Falcons' head coach and his fourth season overall with Air Force. Peters came to the Academy as an assistant coach in the fall of 1998. His career and Air Force record is 46-67 for two seasons. His first career victory came against Iowa State, Feb. 6, 2000. Peters' coaching career began at his alma mater, UNLV, where he was an assistant coach from 1990-94. The Denver native was the head coach at Colby Community College (Kansas) from 1995-98. He led the Trojans to a 123-80 record for a .600 winning percentage. He led the team to a regional championship and two regional runner-up finishes. He is again assisted by Bobby Applegate and Capt. Mike Manor.
