Air Force Academy
New Mexico State (Gm1)
Air Force Baseball Swept In Doubleheader With New Mexico State
2/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 7, 2004
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Air Force baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader against New Mexico State to open its 2004 season, Saturday afternoon at Presley Askew Field. The Aggies spoiled Mike Hutcheon's debut as AFA head coach, taking game one, 20-7, and game two 19-9. With the sweep, NMSU extended their home winning streak against non-conference opponents to 44.
"The key for us right now, is that we need to get some more experience out there and continue to make adjustments from the mistakes that we make," Hutcheon said. "I was pleased with a lot things. Our offense hit the ball well and we made some nice defensive plays. We have a lot of young guys and it's expected that they are going to see some adversity and do some things that they normally wouldn't do. So the quicker we can make adjustments, the quicker we'll get on track."
In game one, New Mexico State (4-0) scored 12 its 20 runs off of four home runs to down Air Force 20-7. Dustin Cameron (1-0) picked up the win for the Aggies fanning seven batters while giving up just three runs on five hits in five innings of work. Freshman Jackson Edwards (0-1) took the loss for the Falcons in relief.
Xardiel Cotto and Adrian Ballesteros led a 20-hit attack by NMSU. Cotto went 2-for-5 with a home run, three runs and five RBI. Ballesteros went 2-for-3 with a homer, three runs and four RBI.
Senior Mike Rose went 3-for-5 with a run scored to lead the 12-hit performance for Air Force. The Falcons stole six bases in the game, with freshman Geno Salazar and junior Colton Walter each swiping a pair.
Both teams started slow offensively, as the game was scoreless through the first three innings of play. Starter Paul Vignola kept the Aggies scoreless through the first three innings by working out of several jams. The 6-5 righty was able to strand five NMSU baserunners through the first three, but ran into trouble in the fourth when Aggie catcher Mark Keller slammed a two out two-run home run to left field, giving New Mexico State a 2-0 lead. Due to a high pitch-count, Vignola lasted just four innings, fanning four while surrendering just two hits and two runs in the no-decision.
The Falcons answered right back in the top of the fifth with three runs to take a 3-2 lead. After Geno Salazar led-off with a walk and Dustin Smith singled up the middle, Josh Wolfram laced a double just inside the left field line to score both runners. Wolfram scored the third run on a passed ball during Ryan Fitzgerald's at bat.
The lead was short lived however, as New Mexico State went to the long-ball once again to hurt AFA. In the bottom half of the fifth, Adrian Ballesteros hit a grand slam off of Edwards to put the Aggies back on top for good 6-3.
Air Force got one run back in the sixth on a double-steal attempt with Mike Rose scoring from third and Salazar swiping his second base of the day at second, making the score 6-4 in favor of NMSU.
The floodgates opened in the sixth, as the Aggies hit a pair of three-run homers off of Jeff Tetrault to extend their lead to 12-4.
Air Force tacked-on runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and New Mexico State added eight runs in the eighth.
In game two, control problems by AFA starter Blake Nixon and a pair of grand slams by NMSU was too big an obstacle for the Falcons to overcome as they lost 19-9.
Making his collegiate debut in the start, Nixon had problems finding the strike zone, and when he did, was hit hard by New Mexico State. In 2.1 innings of work, the Holliday, Texas, native walked nine batters while fanning four, surrendering 12 runs on six hits.
New Mexico State jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning, as Chris Ewen hit the first grand slam of the game. The Aggies made it 12-0 after adding seven more runs in the third, highlighted by a grand slam by Peter Arroyo. NMSU added two more runs in the fourth and four in the fifth.
Air Force rallied back with a pair of runs in the fifth, six more in the eighth and one more in the seventh. Highlighting the sixth inning was a two-run double by freshman Karl Bolt and a double by junior Dale Kasel.
Senior Bryan Zumbro led the way offensively for the Falcons by going 3-for-4 with a double. Zumbro was 5-for-6 on the day. A trio of Falcons--Kasel, Josh Wolfram and Nathan DeRohan had two hits apiece in game two.
The Falcons and Aggies wrap-up the three-game series at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Sun. Feb. 7) back at Presley Askew Field.
Game 1 notes: Mike Hutcheon coaches first game as Air Force head coach... New Mexico State extends its home non-conference winning streak to 43 consecutive games... Freshman Geno Salazar (Glendale, Ariz.) makes his collegiate debut with the start at second base... Junior Dale Kasel (Fort Collins, Colo.) and sophomore Dustin Smith (Oklahoma City, Okla.) also made their first-career starts as Falcons... Senior Mike Rose (Greenville, S.C.) extends his hitting streak, that carried over from the 2003 season, to nine games with his leadoff single in the second inning... Also making their Falon varsity debuts were Jon Polston, Karl Bolt, Jackson Edwards, John Meyers, Nathan Lowry, Josh Wolfra and Kyle DePierre.
Game 2 notes: Air Force starter, freshman Blake Nixon (Wichita Falls, Texas) made his collegiate pitching debut... Freshman Jon Polston (Indianapolis, Ind.) made first career start at catcher and recorded his first-career base hit, a single off Rory Coppinger, to lead off the fifth inning ... Bolt also notched his first-career hit, a two-run double to right center, in the sixth inning... Mike Rose went 0-for-3 to snap his nine-game hitting streak, dating back eight games to 2003... Freshman Mitch Brown made his collegiate debut, allowing one run in one inning of work... NMSU extends home non-conference winning streak to 44... NMSU hit three grand slams total in the doubleheader.
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