Air Force Baseball Travels To New Mexico For Three Game MWC Set
5/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 11, 2004
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Game 1: Fri. May 14 - Air Force vs. New Mexico - 7 p.m.
Game 2: Sat. May 15 - Air Force vs. New Mexico - 7 p.m.
Game 3: Sun. May 16 - Air Force vs. New Mexico - Noon
Site: Isotopes Park, Albuquerque, N.M. (11,124 Capacity)
Records: Air Force (5-38, 0-19 MWC), New Mexico (19-25-1, 15-9 MWC)
Coverage: All three games will have livestats provided by GameTracker. Click on GameTracker link in "Falcons Nest" section on right side of Air Force Athletics web-site for selected game. All three games will also be broadcast on KBZC 1300 AM. Jay Ritchie handles the play-by-play with Dave Toller on the color commentary.
Air Force Probable Pitching Starters:
Game 1: #11 Paul Vignola - So. RHP (1-8, 11.52 ERA, 31 K, 50 IP)
Game 2: #37 Mitch Brown - Fr. RHP (0-5, 9.07, 30, 40.2)
Game 3: #23 Clayton Couch - So. RHP (2-5, 6.20, 33, 53.2)
New Mexico Probable Pitching Starters:
Game 1: #28 Jason Fernandez - Jr. RHP (6-5, 4.56, 43, 75)
Game 2: #2 Danny Ray Herrera - Fr. LHP (3-6, 4.88, 47, 86)
Game 3: #20 Cooper Eddy - Jr. RHP (4-4, 5.96, 43, 68)
Air Force Baseball Travels To New Mexico For Three Game MWC Set
The Air Force baseball team (5-38, 0-19 MWC) travels down I-25 to Albuquerque, N.M., for a three game Mountain West Conference series at New Mexico (19-25-1, 15-9 MWC), May 14-16. The Falcons and Lobos will play at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at noon on Sunday at Isotopes Park. All three games can be heard live--via radio, phone line or internet--courtesy of KBZC "The Buzz" 1300 AM.
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 244-178 record.
Scouting Air Force
The Air Force baseball team was swept last weekend in a five-game road trip to Utah. AFA is currently batting .289 as a team, led by junior shortstop Nathan DeRohan, who is batting .3017 with a team-leading four home runs, 14 doubles and 29 runs scored. The team pitching staff has an earned run average of 11.73, led by sophomore right-hander Clayton Couch, who leads the team with a 2-5 record to go with 33 strikeouts in 53.2 innings pitched.
Scouting New Mexico
New Mexico (19-25-1, 15-9 MWC) is led by Rich Alday, in his 15th year at the helm for the Lobos. UNM lost two of three last weekend at BYU. The Lobos are batting .309 as a team, led by junior shortstop Josh Mader, who is batting .361 with 34 runs scored and 41 RBI's. New Mexico has a 6.16 team earned run average, led by junior-right hander Jason Fernandez, who is 6-5 with a 4.56 ERA in 75 innings pitched.
AFA-New Mexico Series History
Air Force and New Mexico have played each other 1196 times with the Lobos having won 81 of those... Last year, AFA went 0-6 against New Mexico in six meetings... The two teams first played each other 25 years ago on March 2, 1957, as the Falcons beat the Lobos, 8-7, at the Academy... Air Force is 4-21 against New Mexico since Mountain West Conference play began in 2000 and 4-7 at Falcon Field.
Falcon-Lobo Connections
There are no Falcons from the state of New Mexico... UNM sophomore right-hander Darren Coltrinari is a native of Grand Junction, Colo... Air Force assistant coach Captain (Select) Chris Humphrey is a native of Albuquerque, N.M.
The Series At-A-Glance
Overall: New Mexico leads, 81-38Current Streak: New Mexico, 9 gamesFirst Meeting: March 2, 1957 (Air Force, 8-7Last Meeting: April 16, 2003 (UNM,18-6)Most Air Force runs: 15 on March 9, 1996 (15-8)Most New Mexico runs: 31 on April 17, 2004 (31-11)Biggest win by Air Force: 12 on April 14, 1990 (14-2)Biggest win by New Mexico: 23 on May 2, 2003 (25-2)
Air Force-New Mexico: The Last Meeting
New Mexico hit a Mountain West Conference record eight home runs to complete a weekend sweep over Air Force with its 18-6 win on a windy Sunday afternoon at Falcon Field. The two teams combined for 10 home runs on the day with wind gusts reaching up to 45 miles per hour and blowing straight out to right-center field. The Lobos racked up 20 hits on the day, with four players recording three or more hits. A.J. Spitaleri went 4-for-5 with four runs and his first two home runs of the season. Air Force had 15 hits in the game, with Karl Bolt and Travis Fugler hitting home runs. Nathan DeRohan went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Matt Musser, Josh Wolfram and Bolt each had two hits.
Last Time Out
The Falcons tough stretch continued as the team lost all five games at Utah last weekend. Air Force almost took game one, rallying with six unanswered runs but fell just short in an 8-7 loss. The Utes went on to win game two 12-0. On Saturday, the Utes took game one 11-3 and game two 25-3 and wrapped up the series with a 17-3 win on Sunday. The Falcon infield had one of its best fielding weekends of the season, committing just three errors and fielding at a .976 clip and did not commit an error in the first three games.
April Weather Woes
The Falcons had seven home conference games--all in April--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:
Geno Salazar was the hottest Falcon hitter vs. Utah, batting .467 (7-for-15) in the series... Jason Brown homered and batted .429 (6-for-14) with four runs scored vs. Utah... Brent Tittle and Travis Fugler hit triples in the Utah series... Brown, Matt Musser and Josh Wolfram stole bases vs. Utah... Karl Bolt and Musser had five hits vs. Utah... Brown was also hit by two pitches... The Falcons hit into four double plays.
Pitching Notes:
Clayton Couch pitched seven innings vs. Utah to give him 14.1 innings pitched in his last two starts... Paul Vignola pitched a season-high eight innings vs. Utah... Blake Nixon pitched a career-best six innings in his start vs. Utah... The trio of Couch, Vignola and Nixon accounted for 21 of the team's 24 innings pitched in the first three games.
Fielding Notes:
The Falcons did not commit and error in the first three games on the series and had a streak of 27 consecutive errorless innings... AFA turned seven doubles plays over the weekend.
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 .321 average has started 37 games at either first or third base. Geno Salazar has started in 29 games at either shortstop or second base and Jon Polston leads the team with 28 starts at catcher.
Falcons Are Young In The Pitching Department As Well
Of the 15 players who have pitched for the Falcons in 2004, 13 of them are freshmen or sophomores. Five sophomores lead the team with 26 starts and 162.2 innings pitched logged amongst them, while eight freshmen have accounted for a team-leading 69 appearances with Mitch Brown leading the team with two saves and Blake Nixon tied for the team lead with 33 strikeouts in 35 innings pitched.
Sophomores Swingin' It
Three sophomores are also seeing significant starting time and putting up productive offensive numbers. Josh Wolfram has started 35 games in center field and has batted lead-off for the Falcons in 22 contests and leads the team with 13 stolen bases. Since being converted from pitcher to first baseman/outfielder, Jason Brown has become a potent source of power as he is tied for the team lead with four home runs to go with 20 RBI. Matt Musser has started in 13 of 14 games he has played in since making the move up from the junior varsity squad and already has seven stolen bases and 13 runs scored.
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 43 games and leads the team in runs (29), hits (47), doubles (14), homers (4) and RBI (29). Second on the team in hitting is second baseman Colton Walter, who is batting .302 with 10 multi-hit games. Team captain Travis Fugler, who has started 30 games in the outfield or first base is batting .287 and is tied for third on the team with 19 RBI. Brent Tittle has come on strong as of late scoring 13 runs in 21 games.
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 travels to Provo, Utah, for a six game set May 20-22 vs. BYU in the team's final regular season games of 2004. The Thursday and Friday doubleheaders begin at 4 p.m. with the Saturday twin bill beginning at 11 a.m. at Larry H. Miller Field. The Falcons and Cougars are playing three makeup games in the series that were postponed due to inclement weather during the scheduled April 22-24 series at the Academy.
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 Time5/14 at New Mexico 7 p.m.5/15 at New Mexico 7 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.
