Air Force Academy
UNLV
Rally falls short in 16-13 loss to UNLV
4/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2003
U.S.A.F. ACADEMY, Colo. - A late Air Force rally fell short as 21st-ranked UNLV defeated the Falcons, 16-13, in a Mountain West Conference baseball game Friday afternoon, April 18, at Falcon Field.
UNLV improved to 30-11 overall and 13-3 in the MWC. Air Force fell to 11-24 overall and 0-15 in the conference.
The Rebels took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Patrick Dobson's two-run homer. Air Force came back with one in the bottom of the inning when Zach McAngus reached base when Dobson misplayed a ball in center field. McAngus scored on Josh Phifer's single.
Air Force tied the game in the bottom of the second on Derck Kasel's solo home run. UNLV took control of the game in the middle innings. Peter White's two-run homer in the fourth keyed a four-run inning and gave the Rebels a 7-2 lead. The Falcons again answered, this time with three in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 7-5. Phifer hit a solo home run, his 10th of the season, and Tony Shockley had a two-run, two-out double.
A seven-run sixth inning gave UNLV a 15-6 lead. Air Force committed three errors in the inning. Fernando Valenzuela drove in two with a single and White had a two-run double in the inning. From that point on, Air Force out-scored UNLV 7-1 in the final three innings.
Air Force scored five runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to cut the Rebel lead to 15-13. Bowie Frost had a two-run single and Adam Howes knocked in two more with a triple in the seventh.
In the eighth, McAngus led off the inning with a double and Nick Liegl followed with a bunt single down the third-base line. McAngus scored on Reid Lamson's ground out. Lamson entered the game in the seventh inning, replacing Phifer who was hit in the lower left leg by a Ben Scheinbaum fast ball. After a single by Kasel, Rebel closer Ryan Braun entered the game. The first batter Braun faced was catcher Dan Petro and it looked as if the senior from San Antonio might tie the game. He hit a 2-2 curve ball deep over the left fence that flew just a couple feet foul. Petro struck out on the next pitch. After wild pitch that allowed Liegl to scored, Braun was nearly perfect. He struck out five of the six Falcons he faced.
Rebel starter Matt Luca improved to 3-0 on the season as he went five innings and allowed six runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts. Falcon starter Jesper Stubbendorff (3-6) took the loss. He went five innings and gave up 11 runs on 16 hits with two strikeouts.
Kasel led the Falcon attack, going 5-for-5 with four runs scored, two RBI and two home runs. Shockley, McAngus, Phifer and Petro each had two hits. Joe Wickman, Dobson and Johnson each had four hits for UNLV. Wickman scored four runs while White drove in four.
Game two of the three-game series is Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m. at Falcon Field. The series concludes on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m. --30-
