Air Force Academy
Utah
Air Force Topped By Utah On Saturday
5/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 12, 2007
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force lost a Mountain West Conference baseball game to Utah, 9-6, Saturday afternoon at Falcon Field. The loss drops the Falcons to 8-40, 0-19 while Utah improves to 23-26-, 11-9.
Utah out-hit Air Force 15-12 on the day. Leadoff hitter Nate Burnham led the way for the Utes, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Corey Shimada also homered for Utah.
Shea Hall was the top hitter for the Falcons, going 3-for-3 with a run and RBI. Jason Griggs went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and Geno Salazar was 2-for-5 with a run and RBI.
Utah starter Eric King (6-2) picked up the win, going 5.1 innings and striking out five. King allowed four runs off six hits. Ute reliever Brett Bruneel picked up his fifth save of the season.
Air Force starter Alex Truesdale (0-8) took the loss, allowing six runs, four earned, in 5.1 innings. Truesdale allowed nine hits and through out three. Michael Ruvolo, Joe Peterson and David Miller also pitched in relief for the Falcons.
Utah jumped ahead 3-0 with two runs in the second and one in the third. The Falcons rallied back to tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the inning and one in the fourth.
Utah took the lead for good with a run in the fifth, three in the sixth and two in the seventh. Air Force scored a run in the sixth to make it a 9-4 game.
The Falcons pushed across two runs in the eighth to pull to within 9-6. Air Force had a chance to increase the damage, but K.J. Randhawa was narrowly thrown out on a grounder with the bases loaded.
A season-high 324 fans watched the ballgame which featured several pregame festivities as part of senior weekend. Prior to the game, the Falcons honored several former Falcons as part of honoring 51 years of Air Force baseball. In addition The Wings of Blue, Air Force's parachute jumping team conducted a parachute jumping showcase, which included today's game ball beign flown in.
Former Falcons in attendace included (grad year): Col. (Ret.) Mike Quinlan (1961), Flip Keck (1969), Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ted Roth (1974), Lt. Col. (Ret.) Rich Haynie (1975), Lt. Col. (Ret.) Larry Bryant (1975), Col. Deacon Winters (1980), Lt. Col. Jim Dahlmann (1982), Maj. (Ret.) Kevin Ewing (1983), Tom Coleman (1985), Maj. Mike Kazlausky (1991), Mike Saks (1994) and former coach, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Dan Litwhiler.
Air Force wraps-up the series and plays its final home game of the seaoson tomorrow at noon. The Falcons will honor their four seniors prior to the game.
