Air Force Hosts New Mexico In Three-Game Set
4/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 2007
Complete Series Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
New Mexico (14-21, 3-6) vs. Air Force (6-26, 0-7)
Dates:April 14-15; Doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon; Sunday at Noon
Site: Falcon Field
Live Stats: Gametracker
The Coaches:
Mike Hutcheon is 31-157 in his 4th year at Air Force and 270-297 in his 13th year as a head coach.
Rich Alday is 501-504 in his 18th year at New Mexico and 997-724-3 in his 35th year as a head coach.
Series History: UNM leads, 94-40
Probables W-L ERA G-GS IP K BB4/14 UNM Stephen Smith - Jr. RHP 3-5 7.76 10-9 58.0 37 17G1 AFA Alex Truesdale - Fr. RHP 0-5 6.18 12-6 51.0 22 124/14 UNM TBAG2 AFA Casey Allen - So. RHP 0-0 11.05 8-1 14.2 7 114/15 UNM TBA AFA Jake Petro - So. RHP 3-5 4.95 10-9 43.2 24 29
Air Force Hosts New Mexico In Three-Game Set
Air Force baseball (6-26, 0-7) plays host to New Mexico (14-21, 3-6) this weekend, April 14-15, at Falcon Field. Live stats will be available for the entire series. The series was originally slated to begin on Friday, April 13, but snow forecast in the area has cancelled Fridays game. Both teams' agreed to a doubleheader on Saturday instead.
The Last Time Out
Air Force went 0-2 last weekend at home against #28 TCU. The Falcons lost game one, 9-2, on Thursday and game two, 15-5, on Friday. Saturday's game was cancelled due to snow.
The 2007 Falcons
Air Force enters the week with a 6-26 record. The Falcons are batting .250 as a team. Senior Karl Bolt leads the team with a .348 batting average. His seven homers and 28 RBI are second in the MWC. The Falcon pitching staff has a 7.43 staff earned run average. Sophomore right-hander Jake Petro leads the Falcon pitching staff. Petro is 3-5 on the year and leads the Falcons with a 4.95 ERA in 43.2 innings and has struck out 24 batters. Air Force is fielding .950 as a team, ranking sixth in the conference.
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 New Mexico
New Mexico enters the weekend with a 14-21 record. The Lobos were swept in a three-game set at San Diego State last weekend. UNM head coach Rich Alday enters the weekend with a 997-724 career coaching record in 35 seasons as a head coach, needing three more victories for 1000 wins. The Lobos are batting .298 as a team, led by junior second baseman Jordan Pacheco, who is leading the conference with a .415 batting average to go with 39 runs scored. The UNM pitching staff has a 6.31 staff ERA. Junior left-hander Bobby LaFromboise headlines the pitching staff with a 3.23 ERA to go with 55 strikeouts in 64.0 innings pitched. LaFromboise will not pitch against the Falcons this weekend due to soreness in his arm.
Air Force-UNM Connections
- Air Force has no players on its roster from New Mexico.
- New Mexico has five players on its roster from Colorado.
Series History vs. UNM
- UNM leads the all-time series vs. Air Force 94-40.
- The Lobos took three of four games against the Falcons last year.
- Air Force defeated New Mexico, 6-4, on March, 30, last year at the Mountain West Conference preseason tournament in San Diego, Calif.
Falcons To Play Eighth Doubleheader
Air Force plays its eighth doubleheader of the year this weekend against New Mexico. The Falcons have already played seven doubleheaders in 2007, going 4-10 in those games. The Falcons played seven doubleheaders in 2006.
Texas Trio To Start vs. UNM
All three Falcon starting pitchers slated to throw against New Mexico this weekend are Texas natives. On Saturday, AFA sends out freshman Alex Truesdale, a native of Austin and sophomore Casey Allen, a Portland native. Sophomore Jake Petro, a native of San Antonio, throws on Sunday.
Top Base Stealing Team In MWC
Air Force is averaging 1.78 stolen bases per game and 2.4 in conference play, the tops in the MWC. The Falcons have stolen 57 bases in 76 attempts, good for an 75 percent success rate. Against TCU alone, the Falcons have stolen 15 bases in 17 attempts. The team's season high is seven stolen bases in a game done against Kansas Wesleyan. Junior Chay Derbigny leads the team with 12 stolen bases. Freshman Daniel Walker is one of the top base stealers in MWC play with six in seven games.
Rubber Arm Ruvolo
Freshman Michael Ruvolo leads the Falcons with 21 relief appearances so far in 32 games. That total ranks him second in the conference. Ruvolo has appeared in all seven of the Falcons' MWC games. The freshman right-hander from Blue Jay, Calif., has appeared in 65.6 percent of the team's games. He is currently on pace to appear in 35 games for the Falcons, which would break the all-time single season mark for pitching appearances at the Academy which stands at 33 games. He is just six conference game appearanes shy of breaking the freshman appearances mark of 12 games set by Mitch Brown in 2003.
Petro Named MWC Pitcher of the Week
For his effort against Hawaii Hilo, sophomore right-hander Jake Petro was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week on April 2. This is the second career weekly award for Petro.
Petro, a San Antonio, Texas, product, tallied his third win of the season with complete game shutout in Air Force's 7-0 victory at Hawai'i-Hilo last Saturday. The win snapped the Falcons' 13-game losing streak. In seven innings of work, he scattered four hits while striking out three batters. Petro allowed just one base runner to get past second base in the game. The shutout was the first for Air Force in 58 games, dating back to the 2006 season. He also tossed three scoreless innings in relief in the first game of the series. On the week, Petro hurled 10.0 innings of scoreless ball, striking out six, walking three and giving up just seven hits.
A Pair Of Two-Site Doubleheaders
It's rare enough for a team to play a two-site doubleheader any time, but the Falcons have already done so twice this year. Air Force played Navy in Millington, Tenn., during the morning of Feb. 23 and then, due to weather concerns for the next day, decided to play a second game in Memphis, Tenn., later that day. This past Friday, March 2, the Falcons took on Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho at 2 p.m. and then traveled 40 minutes across the Washington border to take on Washington State in Pullman, Wash., at 7 p.m.
Freshmen Making Immediate Impact
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 32 games this season, the Falcons have started five-or-more freshmen 22 times and started six, six times. Against Akron, the Falcons went with seven freshmen in the starting lineup. Freshmen Matt Alexander (CF) has played in all 32 games for the Falcons and is second on the team with a .293 average to go with three homers and 22 RBI. Ben Ausbun (3B) has started 29 games at third and K.J. Randhawa (SS) has 26 starts, 24 at short. Alex Truesdale (RHP) leads the team with 51.0 innings pitched and is third on the team with 22 strikeouts. Addison Gentry has started 25 games at DH and is second on the team with eight doubles and Daniel Walker has started the last 12 games in center.
Hitting/Offense Notes
• Air Force batted .284 against TCU.
• Karl Bolt batted .600 against TCU and had an on-base percentage of .778.
• Geno Salazar had a monster game against TCU, going 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI.
• K.J. Ranhawa had two hits in both game against TCU, raising his batting average 32 points to .215.
• Daniel Walker stole three bases against TCU. The Falcons were 6-for-8 as a team in the two games vs. TCU.
• Chay Derbigny had two sacrifice bunts against TCU.
Pitching Notes
• Air Force had a 9.00 ERA against TCU.
• Michael Ruvolo pitched in relief in both games and has now appeared in all seven MWC games for the Falcons.
• Alex Truesdale has pitched into the sixth inning in all six of his starts.
• Mitch Brown, Joe Peterson and Ruvolo were the only three relievers used against TCU.
Defensive Notes
• The Falcons fielded .936 against committing six errors in 94 chances.
• First baseman Karl Bolt ranks second in the conference with 275 putouts.
• Freshmen Ben Ausbun ranks third with 91 and K.J. Randhawa ranks seventh in the conference with 84 assists.
• Air Force turned a season-high tying three double plays in the first game against San Diego State.
Additional Notes
• The Falcons 5-4 win against Kansas Wesleyan took just one hour and 18 minutes to play. The Falcons played the doubleheader that day (14 innings total) in a combined three hours and 26 minutes.
• The three game series sweep of Kansas Wesleyan was the Falcons' first in four years. The Falcons last swept a three-game series against Hastings College in 2003.
• The Falcons stole seven bases against Kansas Wesleyan in the first game of the series.
Recapping the TCU Series
In game one, Air Force dropped a 9-2 game to #28 TCU Thursday afternoon at Falcon Field.
TCU starter Jake Arrieta (5-2) held Air Force to one run off five hits in 6.1 innings pitched for the win. Arrieta walked four and struck out four.
AFA starter Alex Truesdale (0-5) took the loss despite another solid outing. Truesdale went 6.1 innings, allowing six runs off 10 hits and struck out two.
The Horned Frogs had 13 hits in the game, led by leadoff hitter Bryan Kervin. Kervin went 2-for-3 with with a home run and three RBI.
Air Force had nine hits in the game, with Karl Bolt and K.J. Randhawa both going 2-for-3. Leadoff hitter Daniel Walker also had a solid game for the Falcons, going 1-for-3 with two walks.
TCU went ahead 4-0 with a pair of runs in the second and third innings. The Falcons manufactured a run in the third to make it a 4-1 game.
The Frogs scored two runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and two more in the ninth. Air Force scored one more run in the ninth.
Michael Ruvolo made his sixth-consecutive relief appearance in a conference game for the Falcons, retiring both batters he faced. Mitch Brown pitched the final two innings for AFA.
In the second game, Air Force lost a 15-5 game to TCU on a frigid Friday afternoon. The temperature was a balmy 27 degrees at first pitch.
Big innings continued to hurt AFA as TCU scored four runs in the third, three in the seventh and five in the ninth. The Frogs had 11 hits in the game and took advantage of eight Falcon walks. Austin Adams led the way for TCU, going 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and three RBI.
Air Force had 10 hits in the game and was led by senior second baseman Geno Salazar. Salazar went 3-for-4 on the day, drilling a three-run homer to go with four RBI. Freshman Ben Ausbun also had a solid day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with two walks. Freshman K.J. Randhawa also had two hits for the second-consecutive day.
TCU starter Chris Johnson (6-2) earned the win, holding the Falcons to two runs in five innings pitched. Johnson gave up six hits, walked four and struck out two. Chance Corgan and Cody Dunbar both pitched two innings of relief for the Frogs.
AFA starter Jake Petro (3-5) took the loss, allowing six runs off five hits in 3.1 innings of work. Petro also walked four and struck out four in the loss. Mike Ruvolo appeared in his seventh consecutive MWC game, going five innings in relief, allowing eight runs, four earned. Joe Peterson pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief also.
The Falcon jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to runs in the first and second innings. Salazar singled to drive in Daniel Walker in the first and then Randhawa scored on a throwing error on Chay Derbigny's grounder to the third baseman.
TCU jumped ahead 4-2 with four runs in the third, capped-off with a two-run homer off the left field foul pole by Allen, and never looked back. The Frogs tacked on two runs in the fourth and one in the top of the fifth to go ahead 7-2.
Salazar put the Falcons back in the game in the bottom of the fifth, as he deposited an offering from Corgan over the scoreboard for this third homer of the season, and making it a 7-5 game.
The Frogs responded with three runs in the seventh and five in the ninth to put the game out of reach.
The Falcons stole five bases in the game, the second time they have swiped five bases against the Frogs. Through five games against TCU, AFA has stolen 16 bases in 18 attempts.
Up Next
Air Force next plays host to Colorado Christian on Tuesday, April 17, beginning at 3 p.m. The Falcons then head to San Diego State to take on the Aztecs for a four-game series, April 21-23, in San Diego, Calif. The two teams will make up a game that was snowed out at the Academy with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 22.
Season Standing Notes
• Bolt Hits For Cycle - Falcon senior Karl Bolt hit for the Cycle last Wednesday against Colorado Christian. In addition, the senior drove in four runs and scored three. It was the first cycle performance by a Falcon since Tony Shockley accomplished the feat on March 27, 2003 against Hawai'i. Bolt singled in the fourth, doubled in the sixth and hit a two-run homer in the eighth. The Stockton, Calif., native capped the day off by smacking a triple to the right-center gap.
• Ausbun Named To All-Tournament Team - Freshman third baseman Ben Ausbun was named to the 2007 Service Academies Spring Classic All-Tournament team. The Puyallup, Wash., native batted .455 in the three games (5-for-11), scoring two runs and driving in one. Ausbun had three hits combined in the two games against Navy and also had a pair of hits against Akron.
• Bolt Brothers Battle In Millington - When Air Force took on Navy at the Service Academies Springs Classic at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn., brothers Karl and Kendall Bolt faced 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. Kendall got the better of the brothers, as Navy took both games of the series with Kendall scoring the go-ahead run in the first game.
• 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.
• 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 two wins away from 500 wins all-time at Falcon Field. Air Force is 498-373 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 seven players that can either hit or throw from the left side. Four batters and three pitchers hit and throw from the odd side and will give Mike Hutcheon some strategic possibilities.
