Air Force Academy
Utah
Utah sweeps doubleheader, 12-10 and 22-5
5/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 17, 2002
Utah pounded out 34 hits and scored 34 runs as the Utes swept a doubleheader from Air Force, 12-10 and 22-5, Friday, May 17, at the Academy's Falcon Field.
Utah improved to 32-23 overall and 16-13 in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force fell to 26-26 overall and 13-15 in the MWC.
In the first game, Nate Weese hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Utah held on for a 12-10 win over the Falcons. Air Force took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third. Steve Winters drove in a run with a double and Dan Petro hit a two-out, three-run homer. Utah then scored three in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth for a 10-5 lead. Adam Castleton had a two-run double in the fourth while Mike Basham hit a solo homer in the sixth.
Air Force cut the lead to 10-8 with three in the bottom of the sixth. Winters, a freshman second baseman from Colorado Springs, drove in two with a single to left field and then scored on a wild pitch. Utah's Jared Snyder tripled and scored in the seventh for an 11-8 lead. AFA scored two runs in the eighth off of Ute reliever Mitch Maio. Price Paramore hit a solo, pinch-hit home run and then Adam Howes singled and scored on Bowie Frost's sacrifice fly to make the score 11-10. In the top of the ninth, Snyder singled and scored on Donnie Saba's sacrifice fly. Maio gave up one hit in the bottom of the ninth and picked up his fifth save of the season. Ute starter Jason Wylie picked up the win. He went five and one-third and gave up eight earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Falcon starter Matt Kaercher took the loss. He went five innings and gave up nine runs, seven earned, on 11 hits with six strikeouts. With his five innings pitched, Kaercher broke the single-season record for innings pitched set in 2000. Kaercher now has 107 innings pitched this season.
Since Falcon Field has no lights, starting at game at 5:15 p.m. is a rarity. But thanks to four quick innings, the game was completed just as the sun set behind the Rampart Range mountains. The first four innings were played in 45 minutes as pitchers Johnny Koegel (AFA) and Cheyenne Rushton controlled the tempo. Utah's Jake Jordison hit a two-run home run in the second inning. Koegel gave up just two runs on two hits in the first four innings. Meanwhile, Rushton gave up just two hits in four scoreless innings.
Utah then exploded for 20 runs in the next five innings and cruised to a 22-5 win. Utah broke the game open with seven runs on seven hits and three Falcon errors in the fifth inning. Saba had a two-run single and two runs scored on wild pitches as the Utes sent 12 batters to the plate. Mike Westfall had a two-run double and then scored on a wild pitch in the sixth. Brandon Biesinger hit a two-run homer in the seventh. Castleton had an RBI triple in the eighth and then scored on Westfall's single. Castleton then hit a two-run homer in the ninth as Utah scored six runs on three hits and four Falcon errors. Air Force's runs came in the middle innings. Winters tripled and Nelson Prouty doubled for two runs in the fifth that made the score 9-2. Josh Phifer and Frost singled and Derck Kasel had an RBI double in the sixth as the Utes had a 12-4 lead.
Matt Ciaramella and Westfall each had five hits on the day. Ciaramella was 5-for-12 while Westfall was 5-for-10 with three runs and five RBI. Castleton was 3-for-9 with six runs scored and six RBI. Prouty, Winters and Howes were all 3-for-8 for the Falcons. Petro and Winters each had three RBI.
Air Force and Utah conclude the series and the regular season Saturday, May 18, with a single game at 2 p.m. at Falcon Field. The teams will then prepare for the MWC Tournament, May 22-25, at Larry Miller Field in Provo, Utah. Utah could possibly finish second or third in the conference, depending on what happens late Friday and Saturday around the league. Air Force could finish third, fourth or fifth. All games will be completed Saturday afternoon.
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