Air Force Academy
BYU
Kaercher throws complete game in 7-5 win over BYU
3/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 30, 2002
Falcon starter Matt Kaercher pitched a complete game and the defense turned three double plays as Air Force defeated Brigham Young, 7-5, in the final game of a three-game Mountain West Conference series, Saturday, March 30, at the Academy's Falcon Field. BYU won the series by sweeping the doubleheader on Friday.
Kaercher, 5-5 on the season, went all nine innings and gave up five runs, four earned, on 12 hits with five strikeouts. The right-hander from Billings, Mont., threw 150 pitches for his third complete game of the season. The victory was just the second in the last five years (11 games) over BYU at Falcon Field.
BYU, 11-15-1 overall and 5-3 in the MWC, took a 1-0 lead on Cameron Coughlan's solo home run in the top of the first. The Falcons answered with five in the bottom of the first and never again trailed in the game. After struggling offensively in the last four games, the Falcons pounded six hits in the inning. Josh Phifer hit a two-run homer in the inning and Nelson Prouty drove in a pair of runs with a double down the left field line.
The Cougars scored three in the third to cut the Falcon lead to 5-4. Dave Jensen drove in two runs with a double to left field and then scored on Rob Itri's single up the middle. AFA's first double play of the game got the team out of a jam in the fourth. With runners on first and third and no outs, Falcon right fielder Tony Shockley was given a chance at redemption. After dropping a fly ball to the previous hitter, Shockley made a leaping catch on a line drive and then threw out Ryan Chambers at home plate. BYU tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth. Jensen reached base on an error by Brian LaBasco and then scored on Itri's double.
The Falcon bats went cold over the next few innings as the team got just two singles in the second through fifth innings. Dan Petro's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth gave the Falcons a 6-5 lead. AFA added another run in the eighth as Phifer singled and went to third on LaBasco's single. Phifer scored on a successful double steal.
BYU threatened again in the top of the ninth. Jensen led off the inning with a line drive to shortstop, but Scott Mears was unable to make the play and Jensen reached on an error. Mears made up for his miscue as he started a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Itri. With runners on first and third and two outs, Kaercher induced Mike Weingarten to pop up to the first baseman, just shy of the bag, to end the game.
Air Force broke its six-game losing streak and improved to 15-16 overall and 3-6 in the MWC. Shockley, Phifer and Petro all had two hits on the day. Phifer and Prouty each had two RBI. Itri and Coughlan each had three hits for the Cougars. BYU starter Paul Jacinto took the loss. He went five and one-third and allowed six earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.
Air Force returns to action Wednesday, April 3, with an exhibition game against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the Triple A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The first pitch is at 3:30 p.m. at Sky Sox Stadium. AFA returns to MWC play with a three-game home series against UNLV, April 5-7. --30-
