Falcons To Host Kansas Wesleyan In Four Game Set
2/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 14, 2007
Complete Series Notes in PDF Format
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Kansas Wesleyan (1-3) vs. Air Force (1-4)
Dates: Feb. 16-18 - Friday at 2 p.m.; Saturday DH (7/7) at 11 a.m.; Sunday at Noon
Site: Falcon Field - USAFA
Live Stats:www.goAirForceFalcons.com
The Coaches:
Mike Hutcheon is 26-135 in his 4th year at Air Force and 265-270 in his 13th year as a head coach
Dave Dawson is 18-36 in his 2th year at Kansas Wesleyan
Series History: First meeting
Pitching Probables W-L ERA G-GS IP K BB2/16 AFA Mitch Brown - Sr. RHP 0-1 3.00 2-1 6.0 2 12/17 G1 Jake Petro - So. RHP 1-1 7.71 2-2 4.2 3 52/17 G2 TBA2/18 AFA Gary Whiteman - Fr. RHP 0-1 15.12 2-2 8.1 3 4
Falcons To Host Kansas Wesleyan In Four Game Set
Air Force (1-4) plays host to Kansas Wesleyan (1-3) in a four-game set this weekend, Feb. 16-18, at Falcon Field. The Falcons and Coyotes play on Friday at 2 p.m., a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. and the series finale on Sunday at noon. Live stats will be available via gametracker for the entire series.
The Last Time Out
Air Force was swept in a three-game series over the weekend against Northern Colorado. The Falcons lost both games of a doubleheader Saturday, 12-10 and 11-5, and lost an 11-4 contest on Sunday.
The 2007 Falcons
Air Force returns 10 letter winners, including five starters off the 2006 squad. The Falcons welcome 19 newcomers to the team, nine of whom are pitchers.
The 2006 Falcons
Air Force went 10-38 in 2006 and 1-21 in Mountain West Conference play, finishing seventh in the conference. The team's leading hitter was team MVP Karl Bolt, who led the team in nearly every statistical category, batting .314 with nine home runs and 30 RBI. AFA's top pitcher was Mitch Brown. Brown led the team in nearly every pitching category, going 3-10 with 51 strikeouts in 71.2 innings and posted a 5.65 earned run average.
Scouting Kansas Wesleyan
- Kansas Wesleyan enters the weekend with a 1-3 record.
- The Coyotes lost to the University of Science and Arts (Okla.) and Central Christian College over the weekend.
- Kansas Wesleyan is a NAIA program affiliated with the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) and located in Salina, Kan.
Series History vs. Kansas Wesleyan
- Air Force plays Kansas Wesleyan for the first time-ever.
Freshmen Seeing Significant Playing Time
Featuring one of the youngest, if not the youngest, team in the nation, Air Force is relying heavily on its freshman class so far in 2007. Through the first five games of the season, the Falcons have started five freshmen three times and started six one game. Freshmen Matt Alexander (CF), Ben Ausbun (3B), and K.J. Randhawa (SS) have started in every game for the Falcons. Spencer Tate (1B) has started four of five games, Gary Whiteman (RHP) has started two games on the mound and Alex Truesdale (RHP) leads the team with seven strikouts in four innings of relief.
Hitting/Offense Notes
• Air Force enters the weekend as the top hitting team in the Mountain West Conference, batting .333. The Falcons batted .303 against Northern Colorado.
• In game one of the Saturday doubleheader vs. UNC, the Falcons pounded out 17 hits, the most since getting 18 hits against New Mexico in May 20, 2005.
• Senior Geno Salazar tied his career high, for the third time, with four hits in game one vs. UNC.
• Karl Bolt hit his second homer of the season vs. UNC, giving him 27 for his career, which ranks 15th all-time at the Academy.
• Matt Alexander hit his first-career home run against UNC and ranks second on the team in hits and RBI.
• Jason Griggs leads the team with a .600 batting average and has multiple hits in four of five games this year. Griggs also stole four bases against UNC.
• The Falcons were 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts vs. UNC and are averaging 2.6 swipes per game so far this season.
Pitching Notes
• Air Force has an 8.77 team ERA. The Falcons had a 9.36 ERA vs. Northern Colorad0.
• Alex Truesdale struck out a season-high four batters in game one vs. UNC and leads the team with seven K's.
• Gary Whiteman rebounded from a tough debut Wednesday to toss 7.1 innings in the start against UNC on Sunday. Whiteman did not allow a run in five of the innings.
• Air Force struggled in game two of the UNC twinbill walking 12 batters.
Defensive Notes
• Air Force ranks third in the MWC with a .967 fielding percentage.
• The Falcons fielded .959 against UNC, committing five errors in the series.
• Through five games, the Falcons have two errorless games and one with just one error.
• First baseman Spencer Tate is errorless in 32 chances and second baseman Geno Salazar is perfect in 22 chances.
Additional Notes
• The Falcons batted five left-handed hitters in a row in their lineup in game one of the York DH and had four in the lineup in game two.
Recapping the UNC Series
In game one of the Saturday doublehader, UNC erased a 4-1 AFA lead with a seven-run third inning and went on to win 12-10. Air Force had three fielding errors that played a part in seven unearned runs.
Falcon starter Mitch Brown took the loss, allowing nine runs, just two earned, in five innings of work.
The Falcons pounded out 17 base hits in the game, led by Geno Salazar's 4-for-6 performance out of the leadoff spot. Salazar, along with UNC's Zack Brockman, both hit leadoff home runs in the first inning for their respective teams.
Karl Bolt and Matt Alexander also homered for the Falcons. Jason Griggs, Alexander and Erol Kelter had two hits apiece in game one.
In game two, the Falcon pitchers struggled to find the strike zone, walking 12 batters in the losing effort. Starter Jake Petro took the loss, allowing four runs on just one hit in 2.2 innings. Petro got into trouble however with five walks.
The Falcons again failed to hold a lead in the second game, squandering a 4-1 lead after two innings. A three-run fifth inning by UNC was the difference.
Air Force had nine hits in the game. Griggs and K.J. Randhawa both went 2-for-3.
UNC swept the series with a 11-4 win on Sunday. The Bears were propelled by four-run innings in the second and eighth innings.
Air Force was held to seven hits on the day with Jason Griggs and Matt Alexander collecting two hits apiece.
Falcon starter Gary Whiteman took the loss in an outing that looked much better than the final numbers indicated. After allowing four runs in the second, Whiteman settled down to allow just one run in the next five innings before tiring in the eighth. On the day, Whiteman went 7.1 innings, allowing nine runs on 12 hits.
The Falcons did fare well on the basepaths for teh second day in a row, stealing four bases, after swiping five in game two of the series. AFA was 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts vs. UNC.
Up Next
The Falcons travel to Millington, Tenn., to take part in the 2007 Service Academies Spring Classic at USA Stadium, Feb. 23-25. The Falcons take on Navy on Friday and Saturday and Akron on Sunday.
Season Standing Notes
• Bolt Brothers Battle In Millington - When Air Force takes on Navy at the Service Academies Springs Classic at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn., brothers Karl and Kendall Bolt will face each other for the first time. Karl, a senior outfielder at Air Force and Kendall, a freshman shortstop at Navy, are both products of Lincoln HS in Stockton, Calif.
• Falcon Brotherhood - Falcon sophomore right-hander Jake Petro is the second Petro to play for the Falcons. Older brother, Dan Petro, played for the Falcons from 2000-03 and was an all-conference catcher in `03.
• Falcon Brotherhood part II - Brent and Gary Whiteman are the latest brother combo to play for Air Force. The last Falcon brother duo to play for Air Force were Derck and Dale Kasel in 2003. Both brothers enter the Academy as freshmen but Gary will be a sophomore in terms of eligibility after playing his freshman year at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona in 2005.
• Falcons Tabbed 7th in MWC Preseason Poll -The Air Force Falcon baseball team was tabbed to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference as voted by the seven head coaches and select media. TCU, the defending conference champion, was selected to finish first, followed by San Diego State in second and BYU in third. UNLV followed up in fourth, New Mexico in fifth and Utah in sixth.
• Closing in on 500 - The Falcons are five wins away from 500 wins all-time at Falcon Field. Air Force is 495-369 all-time at Falcon Field. • Finally, some lefties - After several years of just having one or two left-handers on the team, Air Force features eight players that can either hit or throw from the left side. Five batters and three pitchers hit and throw from the odd side and will give Mike Hutcheon some strategic possibilities.
