Air Force Baseball Hosts UNLV In MWC Series
4/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 27, 2004
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game one: Fri. Apr. 30 - UNLV vs. Air Force - 2 p.m. (MST)
Game two: Sat. May 1 - UNLV vs. Air Force - 1 p.m.
Game three: Sun. May 2 - UNLV vs. Air Force - Noon
Site: Falcon Field - USAF Academy, Colo.
Records: UNLV (25-16, 12-5 MWC); Air Force (5-30, 0-11 MWC)
Radio/Live stats: All three games will have live play-by-play stats through gametracker. Just click on selected game in "Falcon's Nest" section on right side of the Air Force baseball page. Saturday and Sunday's games will be broadcast live on KBZC 1300 AM in the Colorado Springs area. Both games can also be heard for free through telephone and for a fee online through college sports pass (instructions towards the end of this release).
Air Force Probable Starting Pitchers
Game one: #11 Paul Vignola, So. RHP (1-7, 6.64 ERA, 25 K's, 37.2 IP)
Game two: #37 Mitch Brown, Fr. RHP (0-3, 7.79 ERA, 25 K's, 32.1 IP)
Game three: #23 Clayton Couch, So. RHP (2-3, 6.64 ERA, 25 K's, 39.1 IP)
UNLV Probable Starting Pitchers
Game one: #24 David Seccombe, Sr. RHP (6-1, 5.34 ERA, 62 K's, 59.0 IP)
Game two: #2 Jake Vose, Sr. LHP (5-3, 4.05 ERA, 46 K's, 73.1 IP)
Game three: TBA
Air Force Baseball Hosts UNLV In MWC Series
The Air Force baseball team (5-30, 0-11 MWC) wraps-up its 2004 home schedule playing host to UNLV (25-16, 12-5 MWC) in a three game game set at Falcon Field (Apr. 30-May 2). The Falcons were slated to play BYU last weekend but all three games were postponed due to rain and snow. Air Force was swept by New Mexico two weekends ago in their most recent action.
Hutcheon At The Helm
Mike Hutcheon begins his first year as the head coach of the Falcons. Hutcheon spent the last four years at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind. and compiled a record of 130-78 during his tenure there. In 2002, Hutcheon was named National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Coach of the year after leading Bethel to the 2002 NCCAA national title. Prior to his stay at Bethel, Hutcheon coached at Belhaven College in Jackson, Miss., for five seasons where he went 109-62. In his tenth season as a head coach, Hutcheon has compiled a 244-170 record.
Scouting Air Force
The Air Force baseball team was swept two weekends ago in a three game Mountain West Conference series against New Mexico. AFA is currently batting .294 as a team, led by junior shortstop Nathan DeRohan, who is batting .315 with a team-leading four home runs, 12 doubles and 28 runs scored. The team pitching staff has an earned run average of 11.44, led by sophomore right-hander Clayton Couch, who leads the team with a 2-3 record in 39.1 innings pitched to go with 25 strikeouts.
Scouting UNLV
UNLV (25-16, 12-5 MWC), the defending Mountain West Conference Champions, are led by Buddy Gouldsmith, in his first year at the helm for the Rebels. UNLV is coming of a 1-2 weekend against first-place New Mexico. The Rebels are batting .320 as a team, led by senior infielder Ryan Ruiz who leads the team with a .382 average and 32 walks. UNLV has a 5.85 staff earned run average, led by senior RHP David Seccombe, who is 6-1 (5.34) with 62 strikeouts in 59.0 innings pitched.
AFA-UNLV Series History
Air Force and UNLV have played each other 58 times with the Rebels having won 44 of those... Last year, UNLV swept AFA in seven meetings... The two teams first played each other 34 years ago on May 10, 1970, as the Falcons swept a doubleheader 21-19, 10-9 at the Academy... Air Force is 5-20 against UNLV since Mountain West Conference play began in 2000 and 2-13 at Wilson Stadium.
Falcon-Rebel Connections
Falcons sophomore right-hander Paul Vignola hails from Las Vegas, attending Green Valley HS... Rebel freshman left-hander Jerod Estey hails from Creig, Colo.
The Series At-A-Glance
Overall: UNLV leads, 44-14Current Streak: UNLV, 10 gamesFirst Meeting: May 10, 1970 (Air Force swept DH 21-19, 10-9)Last Meeting: March 28, 2004 (UNLV, 7-0)Most Air Force runs: 21 on May 10, 1970 (21-19)Most UNLV runs: 21, twice; May 5, 2000 (gm. 1 of DH, UNLV 21-6) and May 7, 2000Biggest win by Air Force: 9 on April 20, 2001 (19-10)Biggest win by UNLV: 15 on May 5, 2000 (21-6)
Air Force-UNLV: The Last Meeting
UNLV swept Air Force in a three-game series at Earl E. Wilson Stadium, March 26-28, earlier this season. The Rebels took game one, 21-5, as the Falcons committed a season-high five errors. UNLV took game two, 13-2, and swept the series with a 7-0 shutout win on Sunday. Air Force was held to 15 hits in the three-game set.
Last Time Out
In another tough weekend, the Falcons were swept at home by New Mexico, as the Lobos set several Mountain West Conference records. In game one, AFA failed to protect a 5-2 lead, falling to UNM 10-5 on Friday. On Saturday New Mexico set conference records with 29 hits and 31 runs in a 31-11 win. The Falcons also set a conference record in the game, issuing 16 walks. On Sunday, the Lobos hit a conference record eight home runs to win 18-6. With winds reaching 45 miles per hour and blowing out to right-center field, the two teams combined for 10 home runs in the third and final series game.
April Weather Woes
So far, the Falcons have had seven home conference games postponed or cancelled due to rain and snow. Air Force was only able to play one game each against San Diego State and Utah, managing to get all three games in against New Mexico before having all three games vs. BYU postponed due to rain and snow. AFA will attempt to make up all the Utah and BYU games in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah, while the San Diego State games are cancelled.
Hitting Notes:
The Falcons batted .357 (40-for-112) in the New Mexico series... Nathan DeRohan had six hits and six RBI vs. UNM... Matt Musser also had six hits and six runs scored in the UNM series... DeRohan, Karl Bolt and Travis Fugler homered against the Lobos... With base hits in all three game, Jon Polston extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Pitching Notes:
Paul Vignola pitched a season-high 6.1 innings vs. UNM... For the first time in conference play, the Falcons had two starting pitchers work five or more innings... Air Force issued a season-low one walk against UNM on Friday.
Fielding Notes:
The Falcons had their best weekend defensively on the season, fielding .969, committing just four errors... New Mexico was 0-for-5 in stolen base attempts with Jon Polston throwing out four runners and Billy Adams accounting for one... Jason Brown recorded 14 putouts on Sunday and Nathan DeRohan nine assists on Saturday, both Falcon season-high's... Air Force turned a season-best three double plays on Saturday.
Freshmen Seeing Significant Time In The Infield
The youth movement is in full swing for the Air Force infield as three freshman have seen significant playing time among the five infield positions. Karl Bolt, who leads the team in hitting with a .327 average has started 29 games at either first or third base. Geno Salazar has started in 22 games at either shortstop or second base and Jon Polston leads the team with 21 starts as catcher.
Falcons Are Young In The Pitching Department As Well
Of the 15 players who have pitched for the Falcons in 2004, 12 of them are freshmen or sophomores. Five sophomores lead the team with 21 starts and 126.1 innings pitched logged amongst them, while seven freshmen have accounted for a team-leading 60 appearances with Mitch Brown leading the team with two saves and Blake Nixon leading the team with 27 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.
Sophomores Swingin' It
Three sophomores are also seeing significant starting time and putting up productive offensive numbers. Josh Wolfram has started 30 games in center field and has batted lead-off for the Falcons in 17 contests and leads the team with 12 stolen bases. Since being converted from pitcher to first baseman/outfielder, Jason Brown has become a potent source of power as he is second on the team with three home runs to go with 16 RBI. Matt Musser has started in all six games he has played in since making the move up from the junior varsity squad and already has five stolen bases and an .556 on-base percentage.
Don't Forget The Juniors
Three of the top four hitters on the team are juniors, led by shortstop/third baseman Nathan DeRohan. DeRohan is the lone Falcon to start in all 35 games and leads the team in runs (28), hits (41), doubles (12), homers (4) and RBI (26). Fourth on the team in hitting is second baseman Colton Walter, who is batting .288 with a team-leading nine multi-hit games. Team captain Travis Fugler, who has started 25 games in the outfield or first base is batting .292 and is tied for third on the team with 16 RBI. Fellow junior Dale Kasel has also swung his way into the Falcon starting lineup batting .308 in 25 starts.
Falcons Fall 7-3 To Colorado Springs Sky Sox In Exhibition Game
A six-run second inning propelled the Colorado Sky Sox to a 7-3 win over Air Force, in a five-inning exhibition baseball game at Sky Sox Stadium on Tuesday, April 6. Jeff Tetrault was tagged with the loss pitching the second inning. The Falcons got to work immediately in the first, scoring a run of Sky Sox starter Brian Tollberg to take a 1-0 lead. Colton Walter singled and then stole second base and came around to score on a throwing error by second baseman Erick Almonte. Air Force starter Paul Vignola threw a 1-2-3 inning in the first. The Sky Sox then exploded for six runs in the second as Clint Barmes hit a three-run homer and Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer. The Sky Sox tacked on one more run in the third as Garret Atkins homered off Kyle DePierre to make it a 7-1 game. The Falcons added runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Travis Fugler scored of Reid Lamson's sacrifice fly in the fourth and Matt Musser scored on a throwing error after stealing third base. Air Force had three hits on the day, led by Fugler, who went 2-for-3.
What's Next Air Force will play the final three weekends of the season on the road, beginning with a five game series at Utah (including two make-up games that were cancelled in early March) from May 7-9, at Franklin Covey Field in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Falcons conclude the 2004 regular season with road trips to New Mexico (May 14-16) and BYU (May 20-22).
Falcons Broadcast Schedule Finalized
Nine Air Force baseball games will be broadcast on the internet and will be available on the telephone. All nine of those games will be broadcast on KBZC AM 1300 "The Buzz" in Colorado Springs. All of the below games will be available on the internet at www.AirForceSports.com. Just go to the baseball page and click on "Listen to the Falcons" in the Falcons' Next on the right side of the page. Those same games can be heard on the telephone 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. The pregame show begins 20 minutes prior to first pitch. Jay Ritchie, in his sixth season of doing Air Force baseball and his 15th season of broadcasting Air Force athletics, will handle the play-by-play duties. Dave Toller will handle the color commentary.
Remaining 2004 Air Force Baseball Broadcast Schedule
Date Opponent Time5/1 UNLV 1 p.m.5/2 UNLV Noon5/14 at New Mexico 2 p.m.5/15 at New Mexico 1 p.m.5/16 at New Mexico Noon5/26-29 Mountain West Conference Tournament TBA
Miscellaneous Falcon Facts
* Sophomore Jason Brown (varsity wide receiver) and sophomore Jimmy Harold (junior varsity quarterback) also play for the Air Force football team.
* Three current Falcons--Travis Fugler, Dale Kasel and Josh Wolfram--have brothers who also played for the AFA baseball team. Fugler's twin brother, Tommy, played for the team in 2002. Kasel's older brother, Derck, played for the team from 2000-03. Wolfram's older brother, Kris, played for the Falcons from 1999-2001.
* Before going on to become the all-time winningest NCAA Division I men's basketball coach at North Carolina, hoops coaching legend Lt. Dean Smith was an assistant baseball coach for the Falcons in 1958
