Falcons Conclude Season Hosting New Mexico
5/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 13, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Air Force (14-34, 3-15) vs. New Mexico (34-18, 12-8)
Schedule
Thursday, May 14 - 2 p.m.
Friday, May 15 - 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 16 - 12 p.m.
- Series at Falcon Field - USAFA, Colo.
Live Stats:
Live Stats available at goAirForceFalcons.com.
The Coaches:
AF: Mike Hutcheon (Wayne State (Neb.), 1984) is 65-242 in his 6th year at Air Force and 304-382 in his 15th year as a head coach.
New Mexico: Ray Birmingham (New Mexico State, 1978) is 68-43 in his second year at UNM and 121-116 in his third year overall.
Series:
UNM leads the series 101-40.
Last Meeting:
Lost a three game set to UNM in Albuquerque, March 14-15, 2009.
Last Time Out:
Air Force: Was swept in a three game series at San Diego State last weekend. New Mexico: Went 1-2 at Stanford last weekend and defeated St. Mary's, 11-7, on Monday.
Falcons Conclude Season Hosting New Mexico
The Air Force baseball team concludes the 2009 season hosting three games against New Mexico, May 14-16, at Falcon Field. Live stats will be available for all three games.
Scouting The Falcons
Air Force enters the weekend with a 14-34 overall record. The Falcons went 0-3 last week, getting swept at San Diego State. The Falcons are led offensively by junior DH/1B Matt Alexander, who is batting .393 with a MWC leading 15 homers and 64 RBIs. Junior RHP Alex Truesdale anchors the pitching staff and has a 2-8 record in 61.1 innings pitched, to go with 45 strikeouts.
Scouting New Mexico
New Mexico enters the weekend with a 34-18 record. The Lobos are the nations top hitting team, leading the nation in hitting (.364), hits, triples and triples per game. The Lobos are led offensivly by senior second baseman Mike Brownstein, who is batting .414 with 20 doubles, 11 triples and 65 runs scored. UNM's ace is senior LHP John Hesketh, who is 5-3 with a 3.26 ERA in 77.1 innings pitched. New Mexico is fielding .974 and has a team ERA of 5.38.
Series History vs. New Mexico
- Air Force and New Mexico have played each other 144 times.
- The Lobos lead the series 104-40 and have won the last 12 meetings in the series.
- The two teams first met on May 2, 1957 where the Falcons defeated UNM, 8-7, in ten innings at the Academy.
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.
Sr. IF - Dane Hamilton (Grand Junction - Grand Junction HS)
Jr. OF Cameron Smith (Aurora - Salt Lake CC)
Jr. RHP - Willy Kesler (Thornton - Lamar CC)
Jr. OF - Max Willett (Highlands Ranch - Thunder Ridge HS)
Jr. OF - Chris Juarez (Lakewood - Cochise CC)
Final Series For Four Air Force Seniors
This New Mexico series will be the final three games for four Air Force seniors. Pitchers Casey Allen, Jason Griggs, Jake Petro and Adam Teach will don the Falcons white and blues for the final weekend.
Casey Allen: Three-year letterwinner has pitched in 40 career games, making 20 starts...has 63 strikeouts in 136.2 innings...leads Falcons with 5.93 ERA in conference play.
Jason Griggs: Four-year letterwinner and converted fielder has pitched in 25 career games...played 99 games in the field, with 62 career hits, 33 runs and 14 stolen bases...has started at six different positions at Air Force.
Jake Petro: Team co-captain and four-year letterwinner...has pitched in 66 career games and made 45 starts...has pitched in 240 innings, striking out 148...a two-time MWC pitcher of the week selection...ranks in the Air Force top 10 in games and innings pitched.
Adam Teach: Three-year letterwinner...has pitched in 17 career games...lefty-specialist had a career-high nine appearances as a sophomore in 2006.
Falcon Field Upgrades Planned For 2010
Immediately upon the completion of the 2009 season, Falcon Field, the home of Air Force baseball, is slated to undergo a field renovation. The entire playing surface will be replaced by synthetic Field Turf, including the outfield and the blue rubber warning track. The pitchers' mound will be the only part for the field with dirt. In addition to field renovations, a new windscreen with be put onto the fence. The renovations are slated to be completed in time for the 2010 season.
Alexander Leads MWC In Several Categories
Air Force junior designated hitter Matt Alexander leads the Mountain West Conference in several categories.
Category # MWC RankHome runs 15 1RBIs 64 1SLG .736 1Total Bases 148 1
Alexander Moving Up AF Record Lists
Alexander has moved into several Air Force top 10 lists for hitting. In addition to cracking the single-season records, Alexander is just outside several AF all-time records in hits, homers, RBIs and doubles.
Category # AF Season RankHome runs 15 7thRBIs 64 4thHits 79 6th
Falcon Offense Significantly improved
After 45 games, Air Force is having its best season offensively in coach Mike Hutcheon's six years. The Falcons are averaging 1.13 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 .292 1.13 .461 6.7`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 125+ 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% 33% 28%Juniors 46% 19% 24%Sophomores 29% 8% 10%Freshmen 25% 40% 38%
Top Home Run Hitting Team In MWC
Air Force leads the Mountain West Conference with 54 home runs. The Falcons have hit 24 homers over their last 15 games. The 54 homers are the most by AF since the 2003 team hit 63 homers.
Recent Home Run Surge For Ausbun
Air Force junior Ben Ausbun hit his first-career home run in his 100th career game. Ausbun has gone on to hit six homers in the last 24 games.
Road Warriors
Air Force played 32 of its first 35 games on the road. Conversely, Air Force ends the season playing 11 of its final 16 games at home.
First Win at BYU Since 2002
Air Force's 5-4 win Thursday, April 9, 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.
Several Falcons Playing Summer Ball
Nine current Falcons are slated to play for collegiate summer baseball teams this summer. Five Falcons are slated to play in the Northwoods Collegiate Wood Bat League, including four for the Alexandria Beetles. Junior Addison Gentry will be playing for the Wareham Gatemen in the prestigious Cape Cod League.
Player - Summer Team (League)
K.J. Randhawa - Alexandria Beetles (Northwoods)
Matt Alexander - Alexandria Beetles (Northwoods)
Evan Abrecht - Alexandria Beetles (Northwoods)
Aaron Kurcz - Alexandria Beetles (Northwoods)
Michael Ruvolo - St. Cloud River Bats (Northwoods)
Addison Gentry - Wareham Gateman (Cape Cod)
Brad Pingel - Danville Dans (Illinois Collegiate League)
Jon McMahon - Fayetteville Swamp dogs (Coastal Plains League)
Mike Kazakoff - Pittsfield American Defenders (New England Collegiate League)
Kurcz One of Top Closers In MWC
Despite being a freshman, right-hander Aaron Kurcz is developing into one fo the top closers in the Mountain West. Kurcz ranks third in the conference with seven saves and is second with 16 games finished. The seven saves ranks fourth all-time in a season at Air Force. Kurcz is averaging a strikeout a game, with 32 K's in 31.2 innings pitched.
Ruvolo Moving Up Most Games Pitched List
Junior right-hander Michael Ruvolo is well on his way towards becoming the most durable reliever in Air Force history. Through three-years, Ruvolo has made 84 pitching appearances, ranking second all-time. He needs seven more appearances to overtake all-time leader Steve Carson, with 90 career appearances. Ruvolo leds the MWC this season with 26 appearances.
Hitting/Offense Notes
- Air Force is batting .292 as a team, ranking sixth in the MWC.
- Air Force leads the conference with 54 homers and is third with 67 stolen bases. - The Falcons are batting .265 in MWC play.
- Air Force has five regulars batting .300+, and three batting above .346. Air Force's top hitter in 2008 (Nathan Carter), batted .312.
- Matt Alexander's 15 homers are the most by a Falcon since Josh Phifer hit 15 in 2003.
- Freshman outfielder Blair Kessler has six hits on the year. Five are home runs.
Pitching Notes
- Air Force has a 7.96 ERA, ranking seventh in the MWC. Air Force' s ERA last year was 8.34.
- Opponents are hitting .366 vs. Air Force. Opponents hit .358 vs. AFA in 2008.
- Aaron Kurcz is third in the MWC with seven saves.
- Michael Ruvolo is first in the MWC with 24 appearances.
Fielding Notes
- Air Force is fielding .955 on the season, ranking seventh in the MWC. the .955 fielding percentage is the third best total in Academy history.
- Addison Gentry is third in the MWC with 400 chances and 371 putouts.
- Air Force has thrown out 23 runners attempting to steal, ranking second-best in the MWC.
- Air Force is fourth in the MWC, turning 45 double plays.
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 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.
