Air Force Academy
Utah
Falcons Drop A Pair In Saturday Doubleheader At Utah
5/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 8, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Big innings propelled Utah (19-27, 19-13 MWC) to a doubleheader sweep of Air Force (5-37, 0-18 MWC) for the second time in as many days in Mountain West Conference baseball action at Franklin Covey Field. The Utes rallied back from a 3-2 deficit in game one with a four-run seventh inning to win 11-3. A ten-run second inning keyed a 25-3 Utah win in game two.
In game one, Utah scored nine runs in the final three innings to pull away to a 11-3 win. Ben Buck (5-2) earned the win for the Utes tossing a 14-hit complete game. Air Force starter Clayton Couch (2-5) took the loss for the Falcons, allowing six runs on eight hits, fanning four in seven innings.
Utah took a 1-0 lead in the first as Jared Pena doubled to score Ryan Khoury with two outs. The Utes made it 2-0 when Khoury hit a two-out RBI double that scored Nat Schlieman from first base.
The Falcons responded with a run in the bottom of the second as Nathan DeRohan scored Brent Tittle from third with as he put the ball in play to the right side of the infield with a ground out to the second baseman. Tittle tripled to right-center in the at bat before.
Air Force tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth as Geno Salazar doubled down the right field line to score Tittle, who led-off the inning with a single up the middle.
With Couch holding the Ute offense at bay, the Falcons took the lead in the sixth as Geno Salazar grounded into a bases loaded double play that scored Jason Brown to give AFA a 3-2 lead.
After holding the Utes scoreless for four innings, Couch finally ran out of steam as Jay Brossman put the Utes back on top with a three-run home run to left field. Eric Chevalier homered to right field two batters later to give Utah a 6-3 lead.
The Utes scored two runs in the eighth off Falcon reliever Travis Fugler to extend their lead to 8-3. Mike Westfall scored the first run on John Welsh's sacrifice fly and Tyson Olson scored on Schlieman's single.
Utah added three more runs in the ninth on four hits to make it 11-3.
The Falcons had 14 hits in game one, with Karl Bolt, Tittle and Salazar each getting three hits.
In game two, Utah had 24 hits to cruise to a 25-3 win.
Air Force got on the scoreboard first in the second game, as Matt Musser doubled to deep left center and then came around to score on Travis Fugler's single. Utah answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the first to take a 2-1 lead.
The Falcons tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the second when Nathan DeRohan doubled to deep left center, scoring Jason Brown from first base.
The lead was short lived as the Utes scored 10 runs in the second inning to take a surmounting 12-2 lead. Utah sent 15 batters to the plate in the inning, with six batters getting a hit and two more reaching base via Air Force fielding errors.
The Falcons battled back with a run in the third. Matt Musser led-off the inning with a single and then made it to second on a stolen base. Brent Tittle then singled to the shortstop and Musser came around to score all the way from second.
Utah scored one run in the third, three more in the fourth and two in the fifth off of Falcon reliever William Goss--who made his collegiate debut with the outing--making it an 18-3 game.
The Utes went on to score seven more runs on eight hits, three for homers, in the sixth to make it a 25-3 score.
AFA starter Mitch Brown (0-5) took the loss for the Falcons, surrendering seven earned runs in 1.1 innings worked. Utah starter Shad McCord (3-0) earned the complete game win, allowing seven hits and striking out six.
Utah had 24 hits in the game led by Pena, who went 5-for-6 with three runs and four RBI's. AFA had seven hits in the game with Matt Musser getting three and Nathan DeRohan getting two.
Game 1 notes: Clayton Couch made his ninth start of the season... The Falcons hit into three double plays... The Falcons played their third consecutive errorless game... The two teams combined to turn five double plays, with Air Force turning two.
Game 2 notes: The Falcons went 27 consecutive innings without committing an error until making two in the second inning... William Goss (Marietta, Ga.) made his collegiate debut in the third inning in a relief pitching role... DeRohan's double was his 14th of the year, four away from cracking the top 11 for most doubles in a season at the Academy... The Falcons committed four errors after not making a single fielding error in the first three games of the series.
--30--
