Falcons Travel To Creighton, Host #16 TCU
4/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 14, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Air Force (11-22, 2-7) vs. Creighton (17-16), #16 TCU (23-10, 6-3)
Schedule
vs. Creighton (Doubleheader)
Wednesday, April 15 - 4 p.m. (CST)
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium - Omaha, Neb.
vs. TCU
Friday, April 17 - 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 18 - 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 19 - 12 p.m.
- TCU series at Security Service Field - Colorado Springs, Colo.
TV/Live Stats/Radio:
Radio and Live State available for Creighton doubleheader at gocreighton.com
Radio and Live Stats available for TCU series at goAirForceFalcons.com
The Coaches:
AF: Mike Hutcheon (Wayne State (Neb.), 1984) is 62-230 in his 6th year at Air Force and 301-370 in his 15th year as a head coach.
Creighton: Ed Servais (UW-La Crosse, 1981) is 213-115 in his 6th year at CU and 395-197-1 in his 16th year overall.
TCU: Jim Schlossnagle (Elon, 1992) is 234-112 in his 6th year at TCU and 311-159 in his eighth year overall.
Series:
vs. Creighton: Creighton leads, 16-4.
vs. TCU: TCU leads, 18-1
Last Meeting:
vs. Creighton: Creighton won 9-2 ball game on Feb. 18, 2006, at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Ariz.
vs. TCU: TCU swept three-game series, April 4-6, 2008, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Last Time Out:
Air Force: Went 1-3 last week, losing Tuesday to Northern Colorado and going 1-2 at BYU over the weekend.
Creighton: Went 3-1 last week, trouncing Nebraska Tuesday and going 2-1 against Northern Iowa over the weekend.
TCU: Went 3-1 last week, losing Tuesday at Texas and sweeping Texas-Pan American over the weekend.
Falcons Travel To Creighton, Host #16 TCU
The Air Force baseball team plays five games this week. The Falcons play a Wed., April 15, doubleheader against Creighton at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the College Baseball World Series. Air Force then hosts #16 TCU, April 17-19, at Security Service Field, home of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the top minor league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. Live stats and internet radio are slate to be available for all five games. Admission is free to the entire TCU series.
Scouting The Falcons
Air Force enters the weekend with a 11-22 overall record. The Falcons went 1-3 last week, dropping a Tuesday game to Northern Colorado and going 1-2 at BYU. The Falcons are led offensively by junior DH/1B Matt Alexander, who is batting .388 with a MWC leading 12 homers and 45 RBIs. Junior RHP Alex Truesdale anchors the pitching staff and has a 2-5 record in 41.2 innings pitched, to go with 31 strikeouts.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton enters the week with a 17-16 record. The Jays are led offensively by senior first baseman Darin Ruf, who is batting .313 with seven homers and 37 RBIs. Sophomore left-hander Greg Hellhake leads the team with a 3-1 record and has a 4.09 ERA in 44 innings pitched. Creighton is batting .309, fielding .980 and has a team ERA of 4.05.
Series History vs. Creighton
- Creighton lead the series 16-4.
- The two teams first met on May 16, 1970, with the Falcons winning 2-1 at Creighton.
- Creighton has was seven in a row in the series.
- Air Force's last win vs. Creighton was in 1998.
Creighton Series ResultsYear Result, Score1970 W, 2-1 (A)1970 L, 0-13 (A)1972 L, 8-13 (H)1972 W, 10-9 (H)1972 L, 6-24 (H)1989 L, 4-19 (H)1989 L, 7-11 (H)1989 L, 3-6 (H)1990 L, 0-7 (A)1990 L, 3-13 (A)1997 W, 6-5 (H)1997 L, 2-8 (H)1998 W, 4-3 (A)1998 L, 3-11 (A)1998 L, 4-10 (A)1999 L, 4-17 (H)1999 L, 8-17 (H)1999 L, 16-31 (H)2004 L, 8-13 (H)2006 L, 2-9 (N)
Air Force-Creighton Connections
- Air Force freshman RHP Mike Kazakoff is a native of Omaha. He attended Heritage High School in Littleton, Colo.
- Air Force baseball head coach Mike Hutcheon is a 1984 graduate of Wayne State College, located in Wayne, Neb. Hutcheon was a four-year starter at shortstop from 1981-84 and was two-time All-Central States Intercollegiate League Conference.
- Creighton has three players on its roster from Colorado:
Fr. IF - Ryan Barban - Arvada/Ralston Valley HS
Fr. C - Scott Thornburg - Lakewood/Mullen HS
Sr. C - Dan Blair - Boulder/Boulder HS
Scouting TCU
TCU enters the week with a 23-10 record. The Horned Frogs are led offensively by senior first baseman Matt Vern, who is batting .389 with nine homers and 31 RBIs. Junior right-hander Tyler Lockwood leads the team with a 2-1 record and has a 5.03 ERA in 39 innings pitched. TCU is batting .321, fielding .967 and has a team ERA of 3.78.
Series History vs. TCU
- TCU leads the series 18-1.
- The two teams first met on March 21, 1997, as Western Athletic Conference foes, where the Frogs defeated the Falcons, 9-3, at the Academy.
Air Force-TCU Connections
- Air Force has five players from Texas, the second-most total from one state (Seven players from California):
Sr. RHP Casey Allen (Portland - Gregory-Portland HS)
Fr. OF Blair Kessler (Boerne - Boerne HS)
Sr. RHP Jake Petro (San Antonio - Churchill HS)
Jr. RHP Alex Truesdale (Austin - S.F. Austin HS)
Jr. RHP Daniel Walker (Grand Prairie - James Bowen HS)
At Security Service Field
Air Force last played at Security Service Field in 2006. The Falcons dropped a three-game MWC series to BYU, April 27-29, 2006. Prior to that series, Air Force played an exhibition game with the Sky Sox on April 6, 2004, losing 7-3. Three current Colorado Rockies, Clint Barmes, Garret Atkins and Brad Hawpe and current Oakland A's player Matt Holliday played in that game. Barmes, Holliday and Atkins homered.
Alexander Has Monster Series At Utah Valley
Junior designated hitter/first baseman Matt Alexander had a series for the ages at Utah Valley, batting .632 (12-for-19) from the plate, with six home runs, one triple, one double, 17 RBI and 11 runs scored in the Falcons' 2-2 series split vs. Utah Valley. His three home runs in game one of Saturday's doubleheader was the first bay a Falcon since 2002. For his efforts, Alexander garnered several honors listed below.
Matt Alexander's Accolades on April 6 & 7
- Collegiate Baseball News Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week
- MWC Player of the Week
- AirForceFalcons.com Athlete of the Week
- College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Lineup
Alexander Leads MWC In Several Categories
After his weekend at Utah Valley, Alexander has jumped into the top spot in several categories in the Mountain West Conference, including home runs, slugging percentage and RBIs. Alexander added two more homers against Northern Colorado to give him eight in his last four games. Alexander has driven in 30 runs in his last 13 games.
Category # MWC RankHome runs 12 1RBIs 45 1SLG .750 1Total Bases 108 1
Falcon Offense Significantly improved
After 33 games, Air Force is having its best season offensively in coach Mike Hutcheon's six years. Batting .300, the Falcons are batting over .300 as a team for the first time since, 2003. The Falcons are averaging 1.00 homers per game, the highest total since the 2003 team averaged 1.17 per game.
Air Force Offensive numbers the last five yearsYear Avg. HR/PG SLG. RPG`09 .300 1.00 .458 7.0`08 .275 0.61 .424 6.0`07 .272 0.44 .379 4.6`06 .249 0.67 .375 4.4`05 .279 0.96 .441 6.1
Still A Young Team
Despite returning eight starters in the field and two of its three weekend starters from the 2008 team, Air Force is still a relatively young team. Of its ten starters with 70+ at bats, five are underclassmen and five are juniors. All four of Air Force's seniors are pitchers. Conversely, Air Force's freshmen have pitched the most innings of any class.
Percentage of starts by grade Hitters Pitchers % of IPSeniors 0% 39% 30%Juniors 46% 21% 25%Sophomores 29% 9% 11%Freshmen 25% 31% 34%
First Win at BYU Since 2002
Air Force's 5-4 win Thursday, was its first at BYU's Miller Park since 2002, covering a span of 22 games. It was also Air Force's second extra inning win of the season.
Road Warriors
Including the two Creighton games, Air Force will have played 32 of its first 35 games on the road. Conversely, Air Force ends the season playing 13 of its final 17 games at home.
Hitting/Offense Notes
- Air Force is batting 300 as a team, ranking fifth in the MWC.
- Air Force is third in the conference with 33 homers, 14 triples and 42 stolen bases.
- The Falcons are batting .261 in MWC play.
- Air Force has six regulars batting .300+, and three batting above .350. Air Force's top hitter in 2008 (Nathan Carter), batted .312.
- Daniel Walker had an 8-for-8 streak, going 6-for-6 vs. Utah Valley and recording two hits to start the game vs. Northern Colorado.
- Freshman outfielder Blair Kessler has four hits on the year. All four are home runs.
- Three Falcons; K.J. Randhawa, Ben Ausbun and Titus Moss, hit their first-career homers vs. Utah Valley.
Pitching Notes
- Air Force has a 7.38 ERA, ranking seventh in the MWC. Air Force' s ERA last year was 8.34.
- Opponents are hitting .364 vs. Air Force. Opponents hit .358 vs. AFA in 2008. - Aaron Kurcz is third in the MWC with four saves.
- Michael Ruvolo leads the MWC with 17 appearances. He pitched in three games vs. Utah Valley and picked up his first save of the year. Ruvolo has pitched in 75 career games, ranking fifth all-time at Air Force.
Fielding Notes
- Air Force is fielding .950 on the season, ranking seventh in the MWC.
- The Falcons fielded .951 against BYU.
- Addison Gentry is third in the MWC with 265 chances and 246 putouts.
- Air Force is third in the MWC, turning 37 double plays.
All Falcon Home Games On Radio
Air Force baseball home games will be broadcast on 97.7 KAFA radio, the cadet run radio station at the Air Force Academy. KAFA's first Air Force baseball broadcast is slated for the March 4 game with Colorado Christian. The full broadcast schedule will be posted on the website.
Alexander On Preseason All-MWC Baseball Team
Air Force junior designated hitter Matt Alexander was named to the 2009 Mountain West Conference Preseason All-Conference Team.
Alexander batted .306 last year as a sophomore, leading the Falcons with seven home runs. He was second on the team with 45 RBIs and a .529 slugging percentage. In one of the best single-game performances in school history, Alexander went 6-for-7 in a game last year against Doane College. In that game, Alexander hit for the cycle, hit two triples and drove in 11 runs. The 11 RBIs and 14 total bases are conference records.
Major League Bloodlines
Air Force has two sophomores, both from the East Bay region of Northern California, with brothers on Major League Baseball rosters. Third baseman Vai Schierholtz has a brother, Nate, who is an outfielder with the San Francisco Giants. Outfielder Nathan Carter has a brother, Chris, who is an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox. Schierholtz batted .320 in 19 games for the Giants in 2008. He was also a member of the U.S. Olympic baseball team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and also played in the 2008 MLB All-Stars Futures Game. Carter batted .333 in nine games for the Red Sox in 2008. The elder Carter played his college ball at Stanford.
Up Next
Air Force returns to action Tues., April 21, hosting Northern Colorado. First pitch is slated for 2:30 p.m.
