Falcons travel to UNC, host New Mexico
4/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 28, 2003
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This Weekend: Air Force (13-28 overall and 1-19 in the MWC) plays four games this week. The Falcons travel to Greeley, Colo, to face Northern Colorado (30-15) on April 29 and then hosts a three-game Mountain West Conference series against New Mexico (30-18, 13-8 MWC), Friday-Sunday, May 2-4, at Falcon Field. The schedule is below.
Tue. Apr. 29 2 pm Northern Colorado Greeley, Colo. Fri. May 2 2 pm New Mexico Falcon Field Sat. May 3 1 pm New Mexico Falcon Field Sun. May 4 1 pm New Mexico Falcon Field
Radio/Television: The Saturday and Sunday games of the New Mexico series will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on KBZC AM 1300. Jay Ritchie, in his 14th season of Air Force athletics and sixth season of Falcon baseball, will call the play-by-play. The pre-game show begins at 12:40 with the first pitch coming at 1 p.m. No television.
Follow the Falcons Anywhere: Games two and three vs. UNM can be heard anywhere in the United States via the telephone. Falcon baseball radio broadcasts can be heard on TeamLine by dialing 1-800-846-4700. The team access code is 0671. This service is free of charge to listeners thanks to the Air Force Academy athletic department. Baseball games can also be listened to on the internet at www.AirForceSports.com. Go to the baseball page and click on Listen to the Falcons on the right side of the screen.
Series History: Air Force and Northern Colorado have played 110 times and the Bears hold a 65-45 lead in the series that began in 1957. UNC and AFA opened the 2003 season with a three-game series at Falcon Field, Feb. 1-2, and the Bears took two of the three games. Since 1990, AFA has won 10 of the 13 games played. Air Force and New Mexico have played 113 times, the Falcons' third-longest active rivalry. UNM holds a 75-38 lead in the series that began in 1957. Earlier this season, UNM swept Air Force in Albuquerque in early March. Last season, the Falcons swept the series at Air Force by scores of 7-5, 7-5 and 11-9 in late April.
Earlier This Season Vs. the Bears: Northern Colorado took two of three from Air Force, Feb. 1-2. UNC swept Saturday's doubleheader by scores of 15-13 in 10 innings and 16-12 in seven innings. Air Force won the series final, 16-6. Josh Phifer was named the conference and national player of the week as he hit .643 (9-for-14) with five home runs, a double and 10 RBI in the three games. Dan Petro and Zach McAngus each hit .545.
Earlier This Season Vs. the Lobos: The Falcons took a lead into the sixth inning of all three games and all three times New Mexico came from behind to sweep a three-game series from Air Force, Feb. 28-Mar. 2, at Lobo Field, 9-8, 8-7 and 6-2. The Lobos won the three games by a total of four runs. The series began Friday with an extra-inning game that was suspended due to darkness and completed Saturday. The Falcons led 6-0 going into the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Lobos erupted for four runs. Then in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the Falcons up 6-4, Chris Alexander hit a two-run shot to left field that tied the game at six. Each team scored one run in the 10th and 12th innings. UNM's game-winning run in the 13th scored on a Bowie Frost throwing error. Air Force starter Jesper Stubbendorff went seven strong innings for the Falcons, allowing two earned runs. Reliever Ken Hodgson took the loss. He pitched the final two and one-third innings and gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits. On Saturday, Air Force led 5-2 after five innings, but New Mexico scored three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to take a 7-5 lead. Air Force came back to tie the score at 7-7, but the Lobos scored the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth. UNM's Sean Murray scored on a Josh Mader fly ball in the bottom of the eighth and it was enough to secure the victory. Hodgson was saddled with the loss, his second of the day. He pitched two-thirds of an inning and gave up one earned run on one hit and two walks. Kasel and Nick Liegl each had three hits in the gam. On Sunday, Air Force scored three runs in the top of the fifth for a 4-1 lead and held the lead until the bottom of the seventh. UNM scored three in the seventh and two in the eighth for a 6-4 win. The Lobo bullpen was nearly flawless, not allowing a Falcon hit in the final four innings. Josh Zumbrun was tagged for the loss. Rose led Air Force batters, going 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI.
Scouting the Opponents: Northern Colorado is a Division II university from Greeley, Colo. The Bears are under the direction of first-year coach Kevin Smallcomb. UNC is 30-15 overall this season and 20-4 at home. Six of the team's 15 losses have come to teams ranked in the top 25 in Division II. The Bears have won five straight and eight of the last nine. UNC is hitting .335 as a team with two players hitting over .419. The Bears have hit 41 home runs in 45 games. UNC has a 6.91 ERA and the top two starters, Curt Borland and Angelo Telitz, are a combined 15-5 with six complete games and ERAs under 6.51. New Mexico, 30-18 overall, is tied for second in the MWC with a 13-8 league record. The Lobos swept Utah last weekend by scores of 10-5, 14-6 and 12-11 in Albuquerque. The Lobos have won six of their last eight conference games. UNM leads the conference with a .351 team batting average and 79 home runs in 48 games. Chris Alexander is among the national leaders with 22 home runs and 79 RBI.
Zumbrun's Career Game Earns Player of the Week: Senior Josh Zumbrun earned Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for his complete-game shut out win over San Diego State, April 26. In leading Air Force to its first conference win of the season, the right-hander from Baltimore, Md., threw his first career complete game in just his second career start. After spending the first three years of his career on junior varsity, Zumbrun had thrown 33 innings this season, mostly in middle relief. He went the distance against the Aztecs, throwing 119 pitches and faced just 34 batters. Zumbrun gave up just seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
First Conference Win: Air Force picked up its first Mountain West Conference win of the season, breaking an 18-game league losing skid. The streak ended with a 3-0 win over San Diego State, April 26. That losing streak is the second-longest in school history. The 1991 team lost 19 straight as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.
A Rare Shutout at Falcon Field: An Air Force pitcher throwing a shutout at Falcon Field is about as rare as a day with no wind. Senior Josh Zumbrun's complete-game gem was the first shutout of a conference team since a 2-0 win over Utah, April 15, 1989. The last shutout by either team came in 2001 when BYU blanked the Falcons, 10-0. Since joining a conference in 1981 (WAC), the Falcons have shut out just three league teams with the other coming against Wyoming (11-0) in 1986.
Phifer - League Leader: Senior Josh Phifer leads the MWC in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. He is one of two players in the league with a .400 or better average. His .437 average is 30 points higher than New Mexico's Cory Lizarraga. Phifer's .815 slugging percentage is 15 points ahead of UNM's Chris Alexander. His .514 on-base percentage is 38 points ahead of Alexander's .476.
Kasel Among Conference Leaders: Derck Kasel's .411 batting average in conference games is the second best in the league. He also ranks third in slugging percentage (.685) and eighth in doubles (8). In conference games only, Kasel leads the team in batting average, slugging percentage, doubles, hits (30), home runs (4), RBI (11), total bases (50) and on-base percentage (.434).
Couch Strong Recently: Freshman Clayton Couch has been solid in his last three outings, including two starts in conference games. He turned in the best performance of his young career against UNLV, April 20. Despite taking the loss, Couch threw a seven-inning complete game. The right-hander from Inola, Okla., allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Prior to that start, he threw two innings in relief against BYU and allowed just one unearned run on two hits. Last weekend, he started the third game against San Diego State and went six innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. In his last three outings, he has a 5.17 ERA in 15.2 innings with six strikeouts.
Last 10: In the last 10 games, the Falcons are hitting just .290 and have been out-scored 119-62. Dan Petro has been the team's top hitter with a .458 average and a team-best nine RBI. Derck Kasel is hitting .455 with two home runs while Bowie Frost is breaking out of his slump with a .429 mark. In the last 10 games, Josh Phifer has two home runs and nine RBI but is batting just .324, 113 points below his season average of .437.
Streaks: Mike Rose and Josh Phifer each had 11-game hitting streaks earlier in the season which tie as the best on the team. Dan Petro's 10-game hitting streak is the longest active streak on the team. He is hitting .458 during the longest streak of his career.
Last Week: Air Force posted a 2-2 record in four games last week at home and picked up first conference win of the season. After an 11-9 win over Metro State, April 22, San Diego State took two of three from Air Force, April 25-27.
On Deck: Following the UNM series, Air Force travels to Utah for a three-game MWC series, May 9-11, in Salt Lake City.
