Air Force Academy
UNLV
Koegel earns win in 8-5 victory over UNLV
4/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2002
Junior Johnny Koegel turned in another solid pitching performance and the Falcons pounded 14 hits as Air Force defeated UNLV, 8-5, in a Mountain West Conference baseball game Saturday, April 6, at Falcon Field.
Air Force, 17-16 overall and 5-6 in the MWC, took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Bowie Frost led off the inning with a single to right field. After Price Paramore walked, Mike Rose singled and the ball got past Rebel center fielder Brent Johnson. Frost scored on the single and Paramore scored from first base on the error. Rose took third on the play and then scored on an error by Rebel third baseman Tony Schuler. AFA took a 6-1 lead with two runs in the sixth. Dan Petro walked and Adam Howes singled to center field. Tony Shockley drove in a run with a single to left. Frost's sacrifice line out to center field scored Howes from third.
UNLV, 15-18 overall and 4-7 in the MWC, scored three runs on four hits in the top of the eighth to make the score 6-4. Ryan Ruiz led off the inning with a double to center field. He scored on David Trujillo's double to center. Trujillo scored on Joe Wickman's infield single. Schuler's double to left-center field scored Wickman and chased Koegel from the game. Falcon reliever Scott Zicarelli entered the game with two outs to face Garret Shitanishi. Frost ended the inning with a diving catch on a waist-high line drive to his glove side.
After Shockley singled, Frost hit his fifth home run of the season to right-center field for an 8-4 AFA lead in the bottom of the eighth. AFA sophomore reliever Paul Pratt, who earned the save in Friday's win, started the ninth and retired the first two batters. Ruiz drew a walk and scored on Johnson's triple. The game ended with a strikeout of Trujillo.
The Falcons have won the first two games in the series, clinching their first MWC series of the season and the first since taking two of three at BYU last season. Air Force won its first MWC home series since winning two of three from San Diego State in 1999.
With a 5-6 conference record, Air Force moved into sole possession of fifth place, one game ahead of UNLV. AFA earned its fifth conference win faster than any Falcon team since 1995. The 1995 team won five of its first nine league games and finished the season 10-18, the fourth most conference victories in school history.
Koegel earned his fourth win of the season as he went 7.2 innings and gave up four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and just one walk. UNLV's Jared Bonnell took the loss. He went 4.2 innings and allowed four runs, two earned, on six hits with three strikeouts and five walks.
Howes went 4-for-4 on the day with two runs scored. Frost was 2-for-4 with three RBI while Brian LaBasco was 2-for-5 with a double. Wickman led the Rebels with three hits in four at-bats.
Air Force and UNLV conclude the series Sunday, April 7, at 1 p.m. at Falcon Field.
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