Air Force Academy
Metro State
Metro State beats Air Force, 12-9
4/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 17, 2002
Air Force rallied for three runs in the ninth inning, but fell short as Metro State defeated the Falcons, 12-9, in a non-conference college baseball game Wednesday at Auraria Field in Denver, Colo.
Josh Phifer's three-run home run, his second of the game, brought Air Force to within three runs in the top of the ninth. The Falcons had the tying run at the plate when Brian Gornick hit a deep drive to right field for the final out of the game.
Metro State, 21-18 overall this season and winners of six in a row, took a 4-0 lead in the second inning. John Burney hit an RBI double to left center and J.C. Reigenborn drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Air Force, 18-21 overall, scored three in the top of the third. Tony Shockley drove in Scott Mears with a suicide squeeze bunt and Mike Rose had an RBI single .
MSC catcher David Gwinner hit a solo home run in the third and a two-run homer in the fourth for an 8-3 lead. The Falcons answered with three in the fifth as Phifer hit a three-run home run to right field. Metro State took a 12-6 lead with four runs on four hits in the sixth. Steve Guerrero drove in two runs with a double down the right-field line.
The Falcons trailed 12-6 entering the top of the ninth. With one out, Adam Howes doubled to right field and Bowie Frost singled to right field. With two outs, Phifer hit the first pitch from MSC starter Steve Neely over the right-center field fence to cut the deficit to three runs. Rose then doubled to right center and chased Neely from the game. Eric Cummings came on in relief and Falcon freshman Steve Winters greeted him with a single through the right side. Playing in his fourth game of the season, Gornick, a four-year hockey letterman and all-conference forward, hit a deep drive to right field for the final out of the game.
AFA starter Ken Hodgson took the loss. The freshman left-hander gave up four runs on five hits with one strikeout in two innings. Neely earned the win as he went eight and two-thirds and allowed nine runs, six earned, on 13 hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Howes led the Falcons as he went 5-for-5 with three runs scored. Phifer was 3-for-5 with six RBI and three runs scored. Winters was also 3-for-5. Burney was 4-for-4 for Metro while Gwinner was 3-for-4 with four RBI.
Air Force returns to Falcon Field for a three-game Mountain West Conference series against New Mexico, April 19-21. The teams play single games beginning at 2 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
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